Make this spicy Thai Pumpkin Curry in under 20 minutes for your weeknight dinner. It’s gluten-free, super delicious, and can be easily made vegan too. Here is how to make it.
If you are planning on making a Thai meal for your weekend brunch, here are some more recipes you can try along with Thai Pumpkin Curry – Thai Red Curry, Thai Green Curry, Thai Pineapple Fried Rice, Pad Thai Noodles, Thai Fried Rice, and Thai Basil Chicken.
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About This Recipe
Thai Pumpkin Curry is a quick and easy to make spicy curry made using Red Curry Paste, Pumpkin Puree, Pumpkin Cubes, and a few other ingredients. It has a creamy coconut milk base that goes great with rice or quinoa.
This one-pot curry is hearty, delicious, and made using ingredients that are easy to find. The curry can be customized easily and can be doubled or tripled.
This Thai Curry uses both pumpkin puree as well as cubed pumpkin, which means this one is high on fall flavors.
Enjoy the Fall Season with this creamy coconut based spicy pumpkin curry. Make it with Veggies or Chicken and serve along with Rice.
The taste of pumpkin along with the creaminess from coconut milk and the burst of flavors from Thai Red Curry Paste, everything together just creates pure magic. You have to try it to believe me!
This curry is also a great dish to make ahead of time, pack, and store for your weekly meals along with some steamed rice. It also reheats beautifully.
This Thai Pumpkin Curry is,
- Subtly Spiced
- Gluten-Free
- Hearty
- Creamy
- Satisfying
- A must in Pumpkin season
- Perfect for weekday meals
Ingredients
Pumpkin – Grab fresh pumpkins during Fall or Winter, when they are in season. We will use both, pumpkin puree and cubes of pumpkin to make this Curry.
Pumpkin is peeled, seeded, and cubed into bite-size chunks. A little part of this pumpkin is also pureed to use in the curry.
You can use any pumpkin to make this curry. Even squash like Kabocha Squash, Butternut Squash, and Acorn Squash works great.
Thai Red Curry Paste – You can either make the Thai Red Curry Paste at home or can use the store-bought ones. You can even use Green Curry Paste or Yellow Curry Paste to make this curry.
Coconut Milk – It adds creaminess to the curry. Use fresh or canned.
Vegetables – Along with Pumpkin, I have also added Onions and Bell Peppers. You can also add Broccoli, Carrots, Zucchini, or proteins such as Tofu or chickpeas. Non-Veg like chicken or shrimp will work great too.
Vegetable Stock – To make the base of the curry, we will also use vegetable stock with coconut milk. If you do not have vegetable stock, you can add water or make a delicious one at home using my easy Vegetable Stock recipe.
Fish Sauce – This adds a savory salty flavor in the curry, which is hard to miss. If you do not have fish sauce, you can add soy sauce instead.
Brown Sugar – To add that little hint of sweetness, add in some brown sugar. You can also add white sugar or jaggery if you do not have access to brown sugar.
Basil – Basil adds an authentic flavor to the curry, so do not miss this. If you can find Thai Basil, amazing! But if you can’t you can add in regular basil too.
Tamarind Paste – Along with all the salty, sweet flavor, you also need a little tanginess in the recipe, which comes from tamarind paste.
Others – Apart from these you will need Oil, Garlic, Ginger, and Red Chilli. Red Chilli will add heat and spiciness to this curry along with other flavors. You can increase or decrease the amount of red chilies as per your taste.
Step By Step Recipe
Heat oil in a pan. Use any oil of your choice.
Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger and onion and fry for a minute.
Add Thai red curry paste and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Add vegetable stock and bring the curry to a boil.
Now add bell pepper, pumpkin puree, pumpkin, and ½ cup water and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
Add tamarind paste and cook for another minute. Garnish with torn basil and red chilli.
Serve hot with steamed rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
To cut a Pumpkin, firstly cut the pumpkin in half horizontally using a sharp paring knife. Once done, carefully peel it using a knife or a peeler. Now remove the seeds from the same and cube it into bite-size chunks. Pumpkin is now ready to use in the curry.
There are a lot of things you can do with leftover Pumpkin Puree. Here are some ways I use it,
You can use it to make a delicious sauce, that can be poured over your grilled meat or vegetables.
Use the puree in the desserts, pie, to make bread or even biscuits.
You can stir it in your morning breakfast of Oatmeal, to flavor it.
Add it to Quesadillas or even Tacos.
Make a Pumpkin Chia Pudding, for your after-meal dessert.
Some of the other pumpkin recipes that you can try are – Pumpkin Banana Bread, Pumpkin Dump Cake, Pumpkin Hummus, or Pumpkin Apple Soup.
To make this curry vegan, you can use soy sauce or tamari sauce instead of fish sauce. Other ingredients used in this curry are vegan friendly.
Pro Tips by Neha
Buy peeled and cubed pumpkin to save time.
You can add cooked chickpeas, lentils, tofu, cashew nuts etc to this curry.
Add veggies of your choice to make this curry healthier. Boneless chicken breast or shrimp also works great.
Instead of red curry paste, you can also use green curry paste or yellow curry paste. Green Curry Paste is hotter, slightly sweeter, and green in color. Yellow Curry Paste is milder.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this delicious Thai Pumpkin Curry along with Steamed Rice or Thai Sticky Rice. You can also serve it with Brown Rice, Jasmine Rice, Quinoa, Broken Wheat, or even along with Couscous.
You can also serve a light and delicious Thai Salad on the side, for a complete Thai meal.
Storage Suggestions
This Pumpkin Thai Curry will last in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days when stored in an airtight container. Reheat only the amount you want to serve, as reheating, again and again, can hamper the taste of the curry.
You can either reheat it in a pan or in the microwave until nice and warm and then serve it with some steamed rice or any other accompaniment that you prefer.
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Recipe Card
Thai Pumpkin Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 3-4 cloves Garlic (chopped)
- 1 inch Ginger (chopped)
- ¼ cup Onion (thinly sliced)
- 3 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste
- 2 cups Vegetable Stock
- ½ cup Bell Pepper (sliced)
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Puree
- 400 gram Pumpkin (cut into ½ inch cubes)
- 2 cups Coconut Milk
- 2 tsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cilantro
- 1 tsp Red Chilli (chopped)
- Basil (handful, roughly torn)
- 1 tbsp Tamarind Paste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger and onion and fry for a minute.
- Add Thai red curry paste and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Add vegetable stock and bring the curry to a boil.
- Now add bell pepper, pumpkin puree, pumpkin and ½ cup water and cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add tamarind paste and cook for another minute.
- Garnish with torn basil and red chilli. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!