Although squash is a seasonal vegetable, it is available year-round. It is a low-calorie and nutrient-dense vegetable. In Indian cuisine, pumpkin is used for many dishes such as curry, sweet halwa, paratha (flatbread) or sambar sauce. Here we cook a vegan South Indian pumpkin curry recipe without any onions or garlic. So if you don’t like garlic or onions, this is for you.
Make this curry for entertaining or when you want to quickly put an easy dinner on the table. It’s an extra light dish that you can make ahead of time and pack for lunch throughout the week. It reheats beautifully, and if you don’t finish cooking it all the way through, it will retain its consistency even as the squash reheats. A fragrant, Indian-inspired veggie curry with warming spices, pumpkin and roasted chickpeas.
Simple and easy vegetable curry in just one pot
It starts with a beautiful pumpkin, such as a Hokkaido or butternut squash. Except for the Hokkaido, most pumpkins are peeled. The taste comes from aromatically roasted spices such as cumin, coriander, chili peppers, mustard and cinnamon. Red lentils, which are boiled all by themselves, ensure the smoothness and thus underline the creaminess of the coconut milk, which perfectly complements the aromas. We do without onions and garlic here, but this does not let this dish lose any of its taste. That’s all you need!
In this Pumpkin Chickpea Curry, we start by dry roasting some ground spices to kickstart those Indian flavors. Your kitchen will smell spectacular and all you have to do is stir in the pumpkin puree, chickpeas and coconut milk. Simmer until the squash is tender and add tamarind paste or a squeeze of lime juice to taste. The vegan curry is ready, which you can serve on rice or with freshly baked naan.
if you like our vegan pumpkin curry recipe, you might also be interested in these recipes:
- Sweet Potato Pumpkin Curry
- Pasta with creamy ricotta pumpkin cream
- Velvety pumpkin and mushroom ragout
- oriental roasted carrots on lentil salad
- vegan hasselback squash
- spicy beetroot curry
South Indian Pumpkin Curry Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pumpkin Hokkaido, Butternut…
- 260 G Chickpeas* 400g can
- 2 tbsp. Red lenses
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil or ghee
- ½ tsp mustard seeds*
- 1 tsp ground coriander*
- ½ tsp Cumin*
- 250 ml coconut milk*
- ½ tsp chili flakes* or more…
- 1 cinnamon stick*
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder*
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida*
- 2-3 curry leaves*
- 1 tbsp. tamarind paste* optional
- kosher salt*
other ingredients
Instructions
- Wash the pumpkin, cut in half, scrape out the seeds with a tablespoon and cut the pumpkin into even cubes.
- De-seed the tomatoes and chop roughly.
- Drain the chickpeas, rinse and drain well. In a saucepan over medium heat, dry roast the chickpeas until golden. Take out and set aside.
- In the same saucepan, lightly toast the lentils, coriander, cumin, chili, cinnamon stick, and mustard seeds until fragrant.
- Now add the vegetable oil to the spices.
- Add tomatoes, some salt, asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric. Fry the tomatoes until they are soft and mushy. If necessary, cover the pot and even add a little water if your tomatoes are particularly firm. In the end, the liquid from the tomatoes should be gone.
- Next add the pumpkin cubes. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes while stirring.
- Add the coconut milk and top up with just enough water to cover everything.
- Cook over low heat until the squash is soft. Do not overcook or the squash will become mushy.
- Finally, add the chickpeas and tamarind and stir well. Season with salt. If you like it more acidic, you can add more tamarind paste.
- If the consistency seems too runny to you, you can thicken it with some cornstarch.
- Serve pumpkin curry in bowls with eg rice.
Nutrition
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