hello hi everyone! This recipe for one of my favorite Thai pumpkin curries that I took a shot at cause I had a whole bunch of leftover pumpkin after Halloween this year. It uses a few ingredients that are difficult to find, but also pretty important to the overall flavor of the curry.

In case you have some trouble finding them, I made a few substitution recommendations in the written recipe below here. Remember that the more substitutions that you make however, the farther away from the true flavor you will end up. Good luck!

 

serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 tbsp ginger (about 1 inch)

  • 1 shallot (or 1/4 purple onion)

  • 6-8 Thai bird’s eye chiles (or 1 jalapeno)

  • 1 red bell pepper

  • 3 cups pumpkin (or carrot, or sweet potato)

  • 14 oz (one can) coconut milk (or almond milk)

  • 14 oz (one can) water

  • 1 cup stock

  • 1/4 cup cashews

  • 3 tbsp Thai red chili paste (or curry powder)

  • 1 lime

  • 1/4 cup cilantro

  • 1 star anise pod

  • Thai basil (or sweet basil)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 2 tbsp fish sauce

  • 2 tbsp corn starch

  • water

  • vegetable oil

  • kosher salt

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • DICE the shallot, set aside

  • SLICE the Thai chiles, set aside

  • LARGE DICE the red bell pepper, set aside

  • LARGE DICE the pumpkin, set aside

  • ROUGH CHOP the cilantro, set aside

  • COMBINE 2 tbsp corn starch with equal parts water and stir until a slurry forms, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp vegetable oil and long yao

  • BLOOM the garlic and ginger until fragrant (about 10 seconds) then add the Thai chiles and saute for an additional 1 minute

  • ADD 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste to the wok and mix into the oil until fragrant (about 1 minute)

  • ADD the shallot and season with kosher salt to release moisture from the shallot, and toss to combine

  • ADD the red bell pepper and toss for 1-2 minutes

  • ADD a wok ring to the stove top if using a round bottom wok (for safety) then add the pumpkin, coconut milk, water, stock, soy sauce, fish sauce and star anise pod.

  • SIMMER for 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours, adding additional water as needed)

  • ADD the cashews, Thai basil, and corn starch slurry, then season with kosher salt to taste

  • FINISH with cilantro and fresh lime juice

 

tagged with woo can cook, pumpkin curry, thai curry, halloween hack, pumpkin, jackolantern