It’s fall! And to me that only means one thing: time for pumpkin! I said before that I love pumpkin in all dishes, but when the weather gets colder and windier, I crave warming foods like curries. This pumpkin curry is my all-time favourite. I would advise you to adjust the amount of curry paste to your own taste; I do not know how much spice you can handle ;). If you do not like curries, or pumpkin, I do advise you to try this rice, it is soft, sweet and flavourful. Making it with this curry however is perfect, because you can use half of the can of coconut milk for the curry, and half for the rice. Enough chatter, let’s make this curry!

Ingredients for four people:

For the curry

• Half a bottle gourd (around 700 grams) – you can use any type of pumpkin you like
• A can of diced tomatoes (400 grams)
• A can of chickpeas (240 grams, drained)
• Half a can of coconut milk (400 mL), I use light
• Green curry paste, I use around 50 grams
• The juice of 1 lime

For the rice:

• 250 grams of jasmine rice
• Half a can of coconut milk (400 mL), I use light + 200 mL of water (add more if necessary)
• The peel of 1 lime
• A piece of ginger

Recipe instructions

For the curry:

1. Cut your pumpkin into small cubes, the smaller they are, the quicker they will cook
2. Add half a can of coconut milk and your curry paste to a big pot, if you are not sure how much curry paste to add, start by adding around 1 tbsp. and taste it to see if you would like to add more
3. Add your can of diced tomatoes and your pumpkin to the pan

Tip: I always rinse out my cans with some water and add that to the pan, just so I do not waste any of the flavour!

4. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 min, until the pumpkin is soft. In the meanwhile start preparing your rice
5. Use a potato masher to mash the cooked pumpkin, this will make your curry less liquid
6. Add your can of drained chickpeas and warm through
7. Add a quarter of your rice and a quarter of your curry to a bowl, and sprinkle on some freshly squeezed lime juice or add a quarter of a lime to the side of your bowl
8. Enjoy!

For the rice:

1. Add 200 mL of coconut milk and 200 mL of water to a pan, together with a piece of ginger and the zest of a lime, and bring to a boil
2. Add your jasmine rice and cook for 10 min (or however long is written on the package of your rice), if your pan is drying out, add some more water
3. After 10 minutes turn of the heat, remove the piece of ginger and let sit until the curry is ready