Coconut Curried Pumpkin with Cinnamon Rice {vegan}
My local farm stand closed for the season on Monday, leaving nothing behind save for a few wisps of straw and dried corn husks.
Driving by that day, I saw them tossing pumpkins with abandon into the back of a wagon. The season was over and it seemed the sooner they could rid themselves of the squash the better. I pulled off the road, grabbed my change purse and went to inquire.
The farmer let me take as many as I wanted for fifty cents each and I drove away with big plans to roast them all for purée. I also made off with several cabbages, romanesco, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts on the stalk. All for under 10 dollars. It was a good start to the week.
I couldn’t shake the thought of a good hearty curry though; so while Clara napped, I hacked a pumpkin in half, trimmed off the peel and cut it into cubes. Less than thirty minutes later, I was spooning a fragrant coconut curry over rice and sitting down to a simple, yet satisfying lunch.
I’ve now had the same lunch three days in a row and am convince the flavors improve with subsequent days. I think I’ll have to make another batch soon to test that theory.
Having a well-stocked pantry helps so much when assembling spontaneous dishes such as this. I selected coconut milk, cinnamon, curry powder, onions, rice and broth to pair with my pumpkin and the rest is history.
This is a great example of how I cook during the week, especially in winter. I use what pantry staples I have, produce I find on sale and items from my freezer like stock or crushed tomatoes. A certain slow-cooker Chickpea Stew with Apricots & Turnip comes to mind as I write.
Of course a good bowl of curry isn’t much fun without the garnishes! The selection I had on hand worked out well: tart pomegranate arils, crispy roasted pumpkin seeds and a handful of cilantro.
One last thing, choose the best curry powder you can find (or make your own, it’s not hard). I use a beautiful blend from local Montreal spice wizards, Epice de Cru, called Imperial Kashmiri Curry. It’s a rather intoxicating blend of traditional curry spices, best-quality saffron and two varieties of cardamom. You can find it on their online store, SpiceTrekkers.com.
A traditional curry such as a Madras would work fine, too.
Coconut Curried Pumpkin
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 4 teaspoons fresh curry powder
- 5 cups cubed pumpkin about half a sugar pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 3/4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 5.4 oz can coconut milk
Instructions
- In a medium pot or skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add cumin seed and toast for 30 seconds.
- Carefully add onions to the hot oil and saute, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic to the pan and sprinkle the curry powder over everything. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the pumpkin and the salt. Pour over the stock. Stir to combine, then cover with a lid.
- Cook gently for 15 minutes until pumpkin is tender, yet still holds its shape. The pumpkin will go from brightly coloured to dull.
- Move some of the pumpkin to the side and whisk in the coconut milk. Reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve over rice or with naan.
Nutrition
I seldom deviate from our beloved Baked Brown Rice Pilaf, but I was way too hungry on this particular instance to wait for brown rice. Instead, I reached for a long-grain white basmati, which is almost as flavourful as brown rice, especially when simmered with cinnamon.
Cinnamon Rice
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup long-grain Basmati rice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- In a medium, heavy-bottomed pot warm oil and cinnamon over medium high heat.
- Pour in the rice and stir slowly while you count to twenty. This will coat the rice with the spiced oil and help it to stay fluffy rather than sticky.
- Sprinkle in the salt. Pour in the water.
- Bring the rice to a boil, then cover with a lid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the burner and let the rice stand for 10 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with a fork. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Do you eat many savoury pumpkin dishes?
It’s really lovely to see cinnamon starring in a savoury dish, I shan’t see “pumpkin spice” flavour things the same way for a while!
I make a soup version of this quite often but I love the idea of keeping the pieces whole for a veggie curry. Gorgeous!
Mardi, I love a pumpkin soup with a dash of curry, too, but this felt like a real meal, you know?
I do indeed! On my menu next week in fact (I have a few pumpkins and squash that need using up too!)
What a gorgeous Fall recipe! Want to try this asap!! xo
Alternatively (as ‘curry powder’) is basically a western invention and nobody here in Pakistan would dream of using it :)… for pumpkin curry the spice combo would be turmeric (1/2 tsp), cumin, ginger (1tsp) (powder or fresh) and coriander (1tsp)(dried), with a small sprinkling of garam masala towards the end of the cooking if you have it around. That way you also miss out on the chilli powder that is in most curry powder mixes.
And curries definitely improve the longer they keep! I make daal (lentils) for lunch and we eat it basically every day. Day one, good, kids eat a huge bowl each. Day two, better, kids eat two bowls eat. Day three, amazing…unfortunately not enough for the kids to have the three bowls they demand. You’d think I’d know better by now.
I’ve got a pumpkin dying to be eaten and I’ve not had the energy to roast it…perhaps lunch tomorrow will be this.
Nice market haul! Sounds tasty. I agree, it’s wonderful when you can raid what’s on hand. Yesterday I grabbed a butternut squash and cubed and roasted it up. Found some arborio rice, stock, onions, frozen bacon, Parmesan, and Apple cider (because I had no white wine) and had a very satisfying fall risotto. 🙂
Now I’m craving risotto. Thanks for the inspiration!
Good haul Aimee! Perhaps I should get out of bed early on Saturday to hit our farmers market 🙂
Mmmm, I love a good curry when it’s cold outside! It’s warm and spicy and absolutely delicious! I can’t believe you got all those incredible veggies for less than $10…what a steal!
What an awesome pumpkin score! This curry sounds divine!
As the proud owner of 3 kabocha squash (and maybe a fourth when I go pick up the CSA box this afternoon), I am all over this curry! It sounds like such a delicious way to eat all the squash in the land. 🙂
Oh it would be lovely with kabocha!
Pumpkin and curry go so well together- this dish just looks like a big plate of comfort. BTW- I loved that you inquired about the pumpkins being tossed out, that’s something I would totally do too. 🙂
Yes! There’s enough food waste – too much, really. I’m all for pumpkin rescue. 😉
What a lucky find from the farm — the produce looks gorgeous!! And I love this curry – it sounds lovely!
Our neighborhood farmstand closed this weekend too… the whisps of straw left behind are pretty sad to look at. But then I was excited to see pomagranates again at the store. I should crack ours open 🙂 The curry sounds lovely too.
cinnamon rice? GENIUS!
Do you think I could sub cousa squash for pumpkin?? Nice haul btw you frugal Northern BC girl you 😉
Of course! Any squash would work, it may take a little longer to cook, though.
I’ve had this recipe pinned for such a long time. This weekend I got a Kobacha squash at the farmer’s market and for some reason thought of this one! Boy, it was sooo good. It’s really better than the sum of its parts and we’ll make this all winter long. YUM.