Pumpkin Curry Recipe | How to Make Pumpkin Curry

Vegan Pumpkin Curry Recipe

A simple and delectable dish, made using yellow pumpkin.

Whole Food Plant Based Pumpkin Curry Recipe

Course: Course 2 (Vegetable Dish) for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Satwik Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people

INGREDIENTS

600 g Yellow Pumpkin
2 Onions
3 Tomatoes
1 Green Chili
1/4 cup Groundnuts
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds / Jeera Powder
1 pinch Asafoetida (Perunkaayam / Hing)
4 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
1 tbsp Fresh Coconut grated
2 tbsp Coriander Stems & Leaves chopped
Water as required

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut yellow pumpkin (with peel) into big pieces.
2. Peel onions. Chop onions and tomato into 4 pieces each. Slit green chili along its side without cutting it into two.
3. Boil yellow pumpkin with groundnuts, onions, tomatoes, chili, and turmeric powder with just enough water to cover half the vegetables, until the yellow pumpkin is well cooked. If you prefer to get the onions cooked just right, add them when the pumpkin is half cooked.
4. While the vegetables are boiling, peel and crush or grind garlic to a paste. Keep aside for ten minutes, then add to the boiling vegetables.
5. Once the pumpkin is cooked, remove from stove and add black pepper powder, jeera powder, asafoetida / hing, miso paste, grated coconut, and chopped coriander leaves. Serve fresh!

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Pumpkin Curry Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why crush garlic and wait? When garlic is chopped, crushed, ground or bitten into, two chemicals stored in different parts of garlic's cells combine in a chemical reaction to form allicin. This is a slightly bitter compound that deters insects, but happens to be very beneficial to our health. Allicin helps reduce blood pressure and protect the heart and other organs, fight off lung infections, and reduce inflammation. Unfortunately, cooking destroys one of the enzymes required to form allicin. This can be overcome by crushing garlic and keeping it aside for ten minutes while the chemical reaction takes place. Once allicin is formed, it is heat stable and can be safely cooked. Alternatively, some raw garlic can be added after cooking, to a dish that has cooked garlic in it.
3. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!