The Perfect Pumpkin Curry

Why, hello there! Been a while...or half a year. Whatever.

In the last few months that I'm sure you've been missing me, a lot of non-culinary stuff has gone on. It's not my fault. Summer is too warm to cook much in the Sierra Foothills and our stucco house likes to hold in the heat. I've been busy and frequenting several of the same restaurant establishments to the point where I barely have to order anymore, they just know.

BUT, the fall colors have arrived and it's getting dark extremely early and I'm ready to hole up in my kitchen and COOK. When I was in San Diego last month, my good friend over at Jack Bauer Will Save Us All had a cornucopia of different festive fall gourds and squashes on her countertop. I'd always been somewhat jealous of people who take the time and have the energy to decorate for every holiday and every season.

I was jealous of her gourds.

When I got home and started putting my house together for an extremely non-festive Halloween party, I realized something was missing. I went shopping for party snacks and there they were: gourds and squashes galore. I grabbed the most colorful and lumpy kinds along with a very small pumpkin and when I got home, I arranged them festively in a bowl on my kitchen table. A dream come true!

So Halloween was 10 days ago. I've been eyeing said gourds and squashes and reminding myself I need to actually do something with them, not to mention the two large uncarved pumpkins on my front porch, before they all start attracting flies and have to go out to the chickens. A few days ago, I flashed on this fantastic pumpkin curry I'd had when I was out to Thai food with my other good friend over at Gather Jewelry (her jewelry is FANTASTIC, go buy some). All the pieces of this gourd dream were finally falling into place.

I found a recipe at NibbleDish that had been adapted from a pumpkin curry dish at a Thai restaurant in Reno. I, in turn, adapted it to fulfill my taste buds and let me say they were absolutely singing. I scraped my bowl clean and barely came up for air. Then I had seconds. I will be making this in a much larger quantity with my two giant pumpkins and freezing it so I can enjoy it all winter. The best things about this recipe are that it doesn't take anything fancy and it doesn't take a lot of time. Did I mention it's fabulous?

The Perfect Pumpkin Curry
1/2 small pumpkin seeded, peeled, and cubed

1 can lite coconut milk
1/2 cup of water
3/4 low-sodium chicken/vegetable stock
3 tbsp of red curry paste
3 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup onion, chopped into large pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
2 large carrots, chopped

Brown Basmati Rice (cook in a rice cooker or right on the stove)
1 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup brown basmati rice
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp butter

Put cubed and peeled pumpkin in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread pumpkin on a cookie sheet and broil on high until pumpkin is golden brown. Combine coconut milk, water, chicken stock, fish sauce, curry paste, and ground ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add bell pepper, onion, carrots, and roasted pumpkin. Simmer on medium until carrots are soft, stirring occasionally. Ladle over brown basmati rice and enjoy. 

Feeds three, two if your hunger level is high.

Bon appetit, just not wheat!