Thai Pumpkin Curry

Try our vegan Thai Pumpkin Curry with chickpeas for a quick and easy meal.  For extra fun, serve it inside a little roasted whole pumpkin bowl for a festive fall dinner. The choice is yours!

It’s official! Sweater weather has arrived. When we are not enjoying our date-sweetened easy pumpkin empanadas or healthy pumpkin muffins , we are craving savory pumpkin pie. Yes, you heard us right! Savory pumpkin!  Our mild coconut chickpea curry is rich, creamy, and packed with healthy warming spices.

Jump to:

• 2 Meal Options
• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Plain or in an Edible Bowl
• How to Roast a Pumpkin?
• How to Prepare the Best Darn Curry in a Hurry!
• Here are the main steps…
• Try These Variations
• Top Tips
• Toppings and Garnishes
• Frequent Asked Questions
• More Delicious Curry Recipes
• Thai Pumpkin Curry

2 Meal Options

We have two meal options for you here.  Meal Option 1 has this Thai red curry served in these super cute little pie pumpkins for a delicious warming and comforting meal idea. Presenting and serving like this creates maximum style points, perfect for autumn, and is just plain fun.

If your workday has been crazy, our Meal Option 2 short-cut version using chopped pumpkin or squash either fresh or frozen is for you. A quick and easy prep and go pumpkin curry for those days you really do not feel like cooking but need something quick and satisfying. If you can open a can, jar, bag and stir, those are all the skills you need to throw this dinner together.

This satay inspired coconut curry uses simple ingredients you can find at a regular grocery store, is budget friendly and a fun way to enjoy the autumn harvest season. Happily, vegan, gluten-free, dairy free and a delicious addition to spleen qi meal plan.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Pumpkin or squash – We have made this recipe two different ways. If you want to have dinner on your table in under 20 minutes choose a precut FROZEN butternut squash or kabocha squash. These are found in the vegetable frozen food section of your grocery store and really save time.

Since FRESH is always best. Try pie pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut squash, kabocha squash other type of pumpkin or squash of choice and still be done in 30 minutes. Buying peeled and cubed squash and pumpkin at the market makes the process even more convenient. To learn how to peel and cube a butternut squash be sure to watch our Quinoa Harvest Salad recipe and video.

We roasted whole ‘pie pumpkins’ to serve as a bowl for our Thai Pumpkin curry. Pie pumpkins are generally smaller than their Jack-O-Lantern cousins, have more ‘flesh’ and are a bit sweeter. If you are going with meal option 1 and serving your curry in a roasted pumpkin bowl, there is no need to put extra pumpkin in the curry (you can if you wish, but it’s not required). With each spoonful of curry, you are also going to scoop a little bite of that creamy roasted sweet pumpkin. Oh my, need I say more. It is creamy, rich, and dreamy.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)- for a little protein boost. Use canned chickpeas to save time and effort. Firm tofu is also a good choice, and it makes this pumpkin curry recipe velvety smooth.

Red curry paste – red curry paste is our favorite, but you could also use yellow curry. If you have left over curry paste, be sure to try our Thai Red curry Salmon, Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Soup or our Simple Thai Spicy Hot Pot.

Peanut butter – it’s what gives this satay curry that little extra richness. Be sure to choose a creamy peanut butter. We used an all-natural, no added sugar peanut butter. Surprisingly, you really do not taste the peanut butter. The nut butter gives the recipe that extra silky creaminess. Feel free to substitute with almond butter, roasted pumpkin seed butter or other nut butter of choice.

Coconut Milk – You can use full fat or light coconut milk. Both types work well.

Mild Curry Powder – We used a Middle Eastern mild curry powder from Ziyad which is a blend of Coriander, Turmeric, Red Pepper, Fenugreek, Mustard, Fennel, Garlic, and Cumin. We are all about using what you have on hand and just adjusting the amount up or down depending on the spice level.

Turmeric – gives this pumpkin curry that beautiful golden color. Packed with antioxidants, turmeric adds warming spice to our Roasted Turmeric Spiced Turkey Breast and Turmeric Vegetable Medley. 

Veggies of Choice – Now this is the part that you can have a little fun and clean out your crisper. We added sweet potato greens but spinach, bok choy or any quick cooking vegetable works well. If you want to add a firm vegetable, like green beans or carrots, you will need to add these at the beginning so that they have a chance to cook through.

Plain or in an Edible Bowl

When life gets busy, we are all about just getting this pumpkin chickpea curry recipe on the table – FAST! Speed things up using frozen cubed pumpkin, kabocha or butternut squash. It cooks in just minutes inside the curry. If our family is lucky, they might even get a side of Jasmine rice or cauliflower rice.

If you are looking for something special, try serving your coconut chickpea curry right in these adorable little roasted pie pumpkins (sometimes called ‘sugar pumpkin’). There is no need to add pumpkin to the curry since you’re going to enjoy a delicious, sweet bite of pumpkin with every bite.

How to Roast a Pumpkin?

If you want to make these super cute pumpkin bowls for serving, it’s easy to do. Actually, you could even do this with acorn squash or other small sweet squash breeds.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 degree C).
• Cut the lid off your small pumpkin and remove the seeds. Don’t throw the seeds away! Instead make a batch of our Roasted Cajun Pumpkin Seeds.

• Scrap out the strings and extra things that should not belong and discard. Place a little olive oil on your fingers and rub the inside of the pumpkin and season well.
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the knife pierces the flesh of the pumpkin easily.

How to Prepare the Best Darn Curry in a Hurry!

Thai cuisine is the perfect blend of savory, sweet, sour, and spicy. This flavorful Thai Pumpkin Curry is sure not to disappoint. As you know, Thai spice level can vary. This curry recipe is just flavorful, with a mild spicy lvel. However, what you are going to love most is that creaminess. The secret is the peanut butter. Don’t you worry! You can’t taste the peanut butter, but it gives this Satay curry that silky and creamy texture.

Here are the main steps…

• Fry up the aromatics (onion, ginger, and garlic) in a little olive oil.
• Add in red curry paste and brown sugar until the oils start to come out.

• Pour in the coconut milk, soy sauce, curry powder, turmeric powder

• Spoon in creamy peanut butter or other nut butter of choice and stir until well incorporated. When making this pumpkin curry with a side of rice and not in a whole roasted pumpkin, add in diced pumpkin or squash.
• If using frozen pumpkin or squash, this will cook up in 5 minutes.
• Alternatively, if using raw cubed pumpkin, it will take about 15 to 20 minutes just until they get fork tender.

• Next add the canned rinsed chickpeas and fresh cooking greens of choice. We used fresh sweet potato greens but also delicious with spinach or baby bok choy.

• Sprinkle on fresh lime, stir and enjoy!

Try These Variations

• Who said this pumpkin coconut curry needs to be vegan!! Try adding thin slices of chicken. Add the chicken right after the aromatics.  Fry it up so that the juices no longer run pink before adding the remainder of the ingredients.
• Try adding peeled and deveined shrimp in right at the end of the recipe. These only need a couple of minutes to poach in the coconut curry.
• Don’t have cubed pumpkin or whole pumpkin? No worries! If you have a can of plain pumpkin puree, this will work in a pinch. (Not the sweetened kind with pumpkin pie spice-just plain)
• If chickpeas are not your thing, try adding firm tofu.
• Are you a chili lover? If you like the heat, add more red curry paste to suite your spice level.
• Serve this curry recipe for Halloween with a spooky side of Instant Pot Black Rice Pilaf for a fun treat.

Top Tips

1. Be careful if you are peeling and dicing up your own pumpkin. Use a sharp knife and always cut downward and away from you. Be very careful as we need to keep all your fingers during the upcoming holiday season.
2. If roasting whole pie pumpkins, you can cut them in half if larger or just cut the tops off, if small. We like to make sure the whole is large enough so that it is easy to ladle in the curry.
3. Learning how to “CRACK” a curry is the process whereby you cook the aromatics, oil, curry paste and coconut milk until the oil separates from the coconut cream. When the moisture evaporates, the coconut cream becomes thick, rich, and delicious. Cracking a curry is an important step in making a good Thai curry.

Toppings and Garnishes

You could just add a dollop of this Thai pumpkin curry over your rice and be perfectly happy. However, why not add some easy roasted pepitas, cilantro, chilis and fresh limes and kick it up a few notches. If we are roasting pumpkin, our favorite snack and topping for soups and curries is our Roasted Cajun Pumpkin Seeds.

Frequent Asked Questions

There is no better way to warm up from the inside out then with our Thai Pumpkin Curry recipe.

Stay healthy, warm, and take care.

More Delicious Curry Recipes

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