Today, I am taking some South Indian flavors for inspiration and making a robust and flavorful curry which is so delicious that you would probably ditch the rice/naans and just eat it all by itself 😛 With some fresh yellow pumpkins at hand, i am making a Roasted pumpkin & chickpeas coconut curry !
Do you have such phases when you bring home a vegetable which is not so popular at your house but you bring it every time in hopes of making something new with it and pleasing the family ? Pumpkin seems to take that place in my kitchen. I love this veggie to core but the rest of the family does not seem to care about it much. I have tried various ways (even soups) to help pumpkins find a way in my recipe books but its slight sweet note does not seem to impress my family.
Pumpkins got thumbs up !
Never the less, the way a blogger thinks and believes, I keep my hopes high and patience higher to keep concocting new dishes till the family gives it a thumbs up ! 🙂 Guess what, I finally got a “yummy thumbs up ” for Pumpkins !! Lucky for me, pumpkins found a new home in this recipe which is to make many rounds in my kitchen.
When i started cutting the pumpkins into cubes, i just had this one Indian dish in mind which i make at ocassions at my place and it is generally loved by everyone – Kaddu ki Sabzi . Later that day, I had lunch with an south Indian friend and she told me she makes pumpkin sambhar (yellow lentil soup) with it. This gave me the idea for making a curry soup with south Indian flavor combinations with my pumpkins. The result …. have a look !
Just look at this !! Isn’t that something you want to have on your plate .. like right now ? I started with roasting some pumpkins to enhance their natural sweetness and caramelize them.
This dish has many dimensions.
It has the robust, chunky and earthiness coming from the pumpkins which compliments the sweet scented, subtle and smooth coconut milk..then the slight contrast of flavours from paprika, tangy taste from tomatoes and lemons and finally some freshness from coriander. In all, one dish – many flavours ! Recipe below
Roasted Pumpkin & Chickpea Coconut Curry
roasted pumpkin & chickpea coconut curry
Ingredients
- yellow pumpkin – 1 pound/ 400 gms
- boiled chickpeas -1 cup
- oil (canola/ vegetable etc) -2 tablespoon
- mustard seeds -1 tsp
- onion-1 medium , chopped
- tomato paste -1 tablespoon
- 250 ml coconut milk + 250 ml water
- salt to taste
- red chili powder/ paprika to taste
- ginger-1 inch , grated or cut into sticks
- dry fenugreek leaves-1 tablespoon or handful of fresh fenugreek leaves
- lemon juice-1 tablespoon
- handful of fresh coriander for garnishing, chopped
Method
- Take a non stick pan and 1 tablespoon oil. Heat it up. Once hot, throw in the pumpkin chunks and sprinkle some salt on it. Roast the pumpkin for a couple of minutes till they start to get slightly charred. Saute a couple of times in between. Once roasted, remove from flame and keep aside.
- Now, take a thick bottomed pan. Add in 1 tablespoon of oil and bring to heat. Add in the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Next, add in the chopped onion and ginger. Saute for a couple of minutes or till the onions turn translucent.
- Now, add in the roasted pumpkin, boiled chickpeas, fenugreek leaves, paprika/red chili powder and salt. Saute for a couple of minutes.
- Now, add in the coconut milk, water and tomato paste. Bring to boil.
- Once boiled, simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for another 5 minutes or till the pumpkin is tender and cooked. Adjust the spices as per requirement.
- Add in the lemon juice and mix. Garnish with chopped, fresh coriander and serve on bed of rice or along with a naan/roti flatbread
This dish literally blew our minds.
I made this with mixed expectations but it came out so good that i ended up licking the plate clean 😛 A for the family,i heard “its so good” every time they took a bite.. true story ! My husband actually asked me how i came up with this combination and later complained why i did not think of this earlier 😛
The roasted pumpkin really pumped up the flavors in this curry and the coconut milk gave it a smooth and scented base for other flavors to develop. Try it out !! I am sure you would be making it again and again 🙂
Lovey share Prachi. Love the pumpkin and chickpea combo. – Sreelatha
Thank u so much dear Sree <3 Finally the hubby gave a "yes" for pumpkins 😛
Oh really? We love pumpkin here… 🙂
I love it core.. it was not my hubby’s first choice 😛
Thanks a lot dear Elaine !! <3 and i agree about that combination. This is the first time i tried it and i am simply impressed 🙂
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.