Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Pumpkin Curry

We recently got sugar pie pumpkins in our CSA box, and I decided to go in both sweet and savory directions with them.  One pumpkin got made into ginger-pumpkin pie (yum!), and the rest went into this pumpkin curry.  Pumpkin curry is one of Tim's (and my!) favorite dishes to order at Thai restaurants, so it was fun try try and recreate it at home.  I didn't think the curry tasted quite like the restaurant version, but it was still really tasty.  Next time, I might steam the pumpkin and cut it into bigger chunks, which I think would feel more authentic.  In any case, this is an easy dish once you get the pumpkin peeled and cut up.  Have everything ready, because once you start the cooking process, it goes very quickly.


Pumpkin Curry (adapted from eat, live, run, original recipe here)
Serves 4

1-2 smallish sugar pie pumpkins
Vegetable oil
1 T coconut oil
3 T Thai red curry paste
1 15-ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1 T fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn into a few pieces
6 basil leaves, chopped
2 red Thai chilies, pierced several times with a knife
A large handful of green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 bell pepper, diced
12 ounces thinly cut pork loin cutlets, cut into bite-sized pieces
Cooked rice, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Cut the pumpkin(s) in half, peel, and cut into cubes.  Toss with a little vegetable oil, and then spread in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Roast about 30 minutes, until tender.
3. In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat until melted.  Add the curry paste and whisk into the hot oil.  Let it sizzle about 30 seconds.  Then whisk in the coconut milk, until smooth.
4. Add the water, fish sauce, brown sugar, kaffir lime leaves, basil leaves, and chilies.  Bring to a simmer.
5. Add the bell peppers and green beans, and keep the liquid at a simmer.  After about 5 minutes, add the pork.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes more, until the vegetables are just tender.
6. Add the roasted pumpkin to the curry, and simmer for another couple of minutes until the pumpkin is heated through.
7. Serve with rice.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, tasty looking curry.

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  2. When the restaurants around here say "pumpkin curry," they actually mean kabocha, not pumpkin. This recipe looks good, though!

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  3. I don't think I've had pumpkin in an actual dish before - love the flavor combination going on here!

    For some reason your link with all the muffin recipes got caught in my spam - thanks for all the muffin links Sara!!

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