Curried Coconut-Pumpkin Stew
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Body+Soul, October 2005
- Yield Makes 4 to 6 generous servings
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons light olive oil
- 1/4 cup red onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, cubed (1-inch), seeded pumpkin
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- 1 cup rice milk
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds discarded, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
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In large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, heat oil. Saute onion, garlic, jalapeno, and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add curry powder and pumpkin. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
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Stir in coconut milk and rice milk; bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add more milk or water if needed.
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Add tofu and red bell pepper. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes, uncovered, or until pumpkin is tender. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Garnish with whole cilantro leaves. Serve hot.
I have everything but the rice milk, so I'll use more coconut milk. Actually I have winter squash instead of pumpkin, but it says you can substitute. I'm looking forward to trying this. Its not exactly winter weather here in California today (in the 70's on the 7th of Feb!), but we have all the winter veggies around so this is perfect. Don't want to use my oven!
I thought that this curry was good but didn't quite have enough kick for me. Maybe some lemongrass would have amped up the flavors a little. I might have just made it wrong but I wanted some more zesty flavors. I agree that more garlic, onion, and ginger would have made it even better. And, the full fat coconut milk would have made it a little creamier.
This turned out delicious with a few tweaks: I upped the garlic, jalapenos, onion and ginger. Also used an entire can of full-fat coconut milk and about a cup of water, and threw in a very small handful of sugar and some shakes of tamari and siracha. It was rich, warm, and full of flavor.
Based on ingredients I had on hand, I made several alterations with a promising result. Firstly, I omitted the jalapeno, lemon, tofu and cilantro. With several apples from the fall harvest in my storage, I decided to add them in addition to the pumpkin. In place of the rice milk, I substituted hazelnut milk and changed the curry powder to cinnamon. Delicious results- Served with roast chicken breast and braised greens.
This was easy and yummy. Just enough kick. Perfect for a cold winter's night.
Tasty flavor but somewhat bland. Next time I'll try it with an extra jalapeno and ginger, or maybe a Thai chile. We're modest eaters at our house, and I'd say the recipe yields much closer to four servings than six.
Tasty - I served it on top of quinoa and it was great. Too spicy for my 2 year old so next time I'll leave out the jalapeno!