It’s chilly. I want to be cozy. I started taking down my fall decorations and realized I had pie pumpkins around the house. What better time to use them?

Cashews, pumpkin (you can use other orange squash if you’d like) and coconut milk…curry. Erik is a mad curry maker. And this one was gooood.

From Sunset Magazine

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Pumpkin Coconut Curry

Ingredients

  • 1 small pumpkin, peeled, gutted, and cut into 3/4? chunks (about 5 cups worth)
  • Salt
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 green serrano chiles, minced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 20 fresh curry leaves* or 6 dried bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds or 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup roasted salted cashews (use the salted...promise, it's best)
  • Cooked basmati rice

Instructions

  1. Toss pumpkin chunks with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok (we use our wok for everything) over medium-high heat. Arrange the pumpkin in one layer (or as close to that as you can get) in the skillet. Cook the pumpkin until lightly browned, 3-4 minutes, then turn it over and brown it again, 3-4 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a separate large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8-12 minutes. Transfer half of the onions to a bowl.
  3. Add the serranos, cinnamon stick, curry or bay leaves, turmeric, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the skillet with the remaining onions, still over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and coconut milk to the skillet with the onions. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then cover the skillet, reduce the heat, and simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 7 minutes. Remove the lid, and if the curry is too saucy for your liking, simmer for a couple of minutes uncovered. Stir in the lemon juice and half the cashews. Add more salt to taste.
  4. Serve the curry over rice, topped with the reserved onions and cashews.
  5. *we found curry leaves at Berkeley Bowl...you also might be able to find them at Indian markets