Saturday, October 15, 2011

Pumpkin Curry with Red Lentils

A few other vegans from a group on Goodreads, Vegan_Cooking_Cookbooks & I have come up with the idea to have a little cooking challenge, all of us using one main ingredient, for which the pumpkin was chosen.
I will add the links to the other members' blogs later on as well, so you can see more pumpkin dishes! ;-) 

I've never cooked savory foods with pumpkin, so I was intrigued to come up with a dish!
After spending a while online and surfing through a couple of recipes, I found one that looked just perfect!  ;-) I absolutely love my other Chickpea Curry, so the idea of making a curry with pumpkin sounded perfect! 

I don't know what this pumpkin is called exactly, but after my kids were so disgusted by its look with all the 'pimples', it's now called a "Pimply Pumpkin" in our household *lol*

Pumpkin Curry with Red Lentils

Ingredients:
*1 small pumpkin 
*3-4 carrots, diced
*1 onion, diced
*~1 tsp of minced garlic or 1 clove of fresh garlic
*1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
*1 c red lentils
*~3-5 c vegetable broth (or water)
*1 can of (lite) Coconut milk
*1 Tbsp curry powder
*Salt, pepper, celery salt to taste

Directions:
Step 1) Rub pumpkin with olive oil and some kosher salt and put in the oven at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for ~20 mins or until an inserted knife comes out easily
Step 2) While the pumpkin is in the oven, dice the onion and add to a heated pan [I used my pressure cooker] with the EVOO until they look glassy (~5 min). Add the garlic and let it cook for another minute.
Step 3) Add the diced carrot together with the curry powder to the onion-garlic mix, maybe a splash of water, and mix around. Let the mix cook for another minute or so.
Step 4) Add the red lentils and broth (you might need more then 3 cups possibly), close the lid of your pan [or in my case pressure cooker] and let everything cook until lentils and the carrots are done. [For the pressure cooker it only takes a few minutes, ~5]
Step 5) Once everything is cooked, add the coconut milk (I scoop the top part off and use it in order to get the thick part), taste and voila! :)
Serve with Couscous or Basmati rice (I prefer the latter but we didn't have any anymore so I used couscous).

Guten Appetit! =)

10 comments:

  1. That sounds very tasty! I love curried vegetables and have a similar recipe, but none of the beloved pumpkin in it. What a great idea for using pumpkin!

    :-) Marion

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  2. Thanks, Marion! :)
    I think one can use this as a 'starter base' and replace the pumpkin with any other veggies you like. I've made it once only with a few carrots, onion & the spices, very tasty, easy and quick. (I personally love chickpeas so I mostly throw them in as soon as I make a curry. :) )

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  3. I love pumpkin in curry dishes. What a great choice for using pumpkin! It's so versatile, there were so many options.

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  4. Thanks, Lisa!
    I honestly wasn't sure as I've never cooked savory dishes with it before, like I said in my post, but I figured together with the curry, coconut milk and carrots, I can't go wrong! ;-)
    We just had the leftovers today for lunch, sooo good! (Half of the portion is frozen for another day! :) )

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  5. Val, I think that's some type of squash but the name your kids have given it is awesome. I saw one on Betsy's blog a week or two ago but I can't remember what it's called. Anyways, no matter what it is, the dish you created sounds great!

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  6. Oops.. Lee, a squash? *blush* At least it's in the pumpkin family, right? ;)
    I'll have to see if Betsy maybe can tell me and check her blog as well.
    Btw, your Pumpkin PB Oatmeal squares were a HUGE hit at our house! :D

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  7. This sound delish...I must try this! I love anything with pumpkin in it! :o)
    I see you are in Sicily, Italy. I so hope to get there some day. How do you like it there.
    My husband is also an Omni. :o)

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  8. Thank you, Michelle! I hope you'll like it!

    Yes, we're stationed here in Sicily since 3 years now and have a bit under 2 years more to go.
    It's *ok* here.. certainly different living here for years vs. a visit for 1-2 weeks! ;)
    But that being said I'm thankful for having my husband with us and not on deployment, so we're all happy of simply being together!

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  9. That's a great look pumpkin! It definitely made me smile :) It's pretty cool that we both ended up with curries. Yours looks delicious!

    By the way, the vineyard photos from your last post are fun! Especially the stomping action shot ;)

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  10. Thank you, Cassie! :)
    Yes, curries work great with pumpkin, don't they!?

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