Delicious Pumpkin Chickpea Curry: A Great Vegan Option for Meat-Eaters

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When most people think of pumpkins, they think of pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattés, pumpkin bread: all dessert-type dishes and drinks. A pumpkin curry, however, is an unexpected, savory, delicious treat. It is a great way to use an extra can of plain puréed pumpkin. It's warm, it's hearty, it's filling. And best of all, for vegetarians and vegans, it is completely free of animal products.

Yummy vegan-friendly pumpkin chickpea curry. 

This dish has mild to moderate heat, yet is flavorful. It can be eaten as a side or on its own as a meal. It does take some time to cook but it is worth the wait. Feel free to adjust the spice quantities to fit your taste buds. 

Pumpkin Chickpea Curry 

For the vegetable pureé

1 (stuffed) cup raw spinach (basically two handfuls)

1 whole carrot

1/2 onion (yellow or white)

2 red or yellow mini bell peppers

1/2 zucchini

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2-3 tablespoons water or juice from canned chickpeas

Straight to the pan

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

1/2 of an 8-ounce can tomato sauce (I used hot Mexican style, but regular is fine, too)

2 teaspoons minced garlic 

1 bay leaf

1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with juice

1 can of plain pumpkin (no added flavors)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoons curry powder 

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon sweetener (I used Sugar in the Raw) 

Pinch of chipotle, cayenne, or red pepper flakes to add desired heat

Optional: dash of sea salt 

Directions

1. Put the spinach, carrot, onion, mini bell peppers, zucchini, vegetable oil and water in blender and set to pureé. Add water or a little chick pea juice to help get it moving if needed. Don’t add too much liquid or it will be too runny. Stop the blender and scrape the sides if necessary and blend some more. The pureé should look yellow-green and be the consistency of a thick sauce. Set aside for later.
2. Heat oil in large pot over low to medium heat. You don’t want to burn the oil. 
3. Add the garlic, the bay leaf and the tomato sauce and stir for two to three minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn. 
4. Add the chickpeas,  potatoes, and the vegetable pureé and stir. Cook for 15 minutes. Do NOT let it come to a boil. It should only simmer. If the pot gets too hot, the curry will burn and stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Add in the remaining spices, stir, and turn down heat to low (I set mine to 2 or 3 on my electric stove). Stir frequently to keep it from sticking  to the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until enough liquid has cooked off that the dish is thick and hearty. It should not be saucy or soupy. 

The curry here is still too soupy. Simmering, with steam rising from the pot. 

With this recipe, you really don't need to add salt. The spices add plenty of flavor, in my opinion.

Serves approximately 8 as a side dish, 4 if served as a main course. 

*If you don’t have garam masala, don’t worry. It is just a blend of many Indian spices that normally includes cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, black peppercorns, cumin, coriander seeds, and sometimes even rose buds. I recommend this recipe for homemade garam masala from Indian Healthy recipes. Personally, I just mixed relevant ready-made ground spices I had on hand and didn’t worry about drying, roasting, or grinding them. 

A few ingredients I used: plain pumpkin, chipotle, Mexican tomato sauce, ground ginger, curry, caraway seeds, minced garlic, mustard seeds