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