PUMPKIN CURRY WITH CHICKPEAS, SPINACH & CASHEW NUTS

I have been making this delicious, warming curry for a few years now.
My kids are not keen on pumpkin but they will gobble this up as long as they have plenty of rice, and extra chickpeas in their bowl. I also stir through some natural yoghurt into their serves to tone down the spices for them.
INGREDIENTS:
1.7kg Jap pumpkin, chopped into large bite sized chunks (I leave the skin on as that's where all the goodness is and I love the texture of it, but you can remove it if you don't like pumpkin skin)
3 red onions, finely sliced
3 Tbsp coconut oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp black mustard seeds
3 tbsp good quality curry powder (I buy and love this one by Simply Organic)
½ tsp chilli powder
2 tsp salt
3 tsp ginger, finely grated
1 tsp coconut sugar (optional)
4-5 sprigs of fresh curry leaves (use dried curry leaves if you can't source fresh ones)
1.2L coconut milk
2 x 400g canned chickpeas
1 large handful of baby spinach leaves
1½ cups of cashew nuts, roughly chopped
To serve: cooked rice, lime wedges, fresh chilli, coriander and extra cashew nuts
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
2. Add the curry leaves, garlic, ginger, curry powder, chilli powder, salt, coconut sugar and stir for 1 minute.
3. Add the pumpkin and coconut milk. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender.
5. Carefully remove the pan from the heat and, using a hand blender, quickly pulse blend the curry for a few seconds. You want to thicken the curry slightly by blending some of the pumpkin into sauce, whilst leaving some nice chunks of pumpkin intact. If you don't have a hand held blender you could try to use a potato masher to gently mash some of the pumpkin in the saucepan.
6. Return the saucepan to the heat, add the chickpeas, spinach leaves and cashew nuts and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted slightly.
7. Serve with cooked rice, lime wedges, fresh coriander, chopped chilli, and extra cashew nuts (if desired).
SERVES 5-6
#curry #dairyfree #vegan #vegetarian #dinner #lunch #glutenfree