Thai Pumpkin Curry Recipe

Thai Pumpkin Red Curry

Pumpkin curry is not what people commonly think of when they think of Thai food but it is actually pretty common.  I have seen some of the recipes on different social media and my wife has made some pumpkin recipes and I had to try one.

Festive Thai Pumpkin Curry Recipe

Adjusting the spiciness

We experimented by first adding only 2 tablespoons of red curry paste and realized that it was too bland for our taste-buds.  Bringing it back to a boil you can always add more as we did to increase the heat level.   You can add more heat easily but to subtract heat means adding more coconut milk which raises the fat level.  If you are in super good shape it may not matter and you may like the more tropical flavor of coconut anyways.  Here is an interesting article on the topic of coconut milk saturated fat and it's possible bad effects on the body.  Here is an article touting it as a super-food, what do you think?

Other modifications you can make

The hardest part of this recipe is cutting through the tough meat of the pumpkin.  You can use butternut squash instead.  I actually found some already cut into cubes in the frozen section of the supermarket near us.  Either of the vegetables have the same color and high nutrient value.  We actually enjoy both though and variety is the spice of life.  Using a home made curry paste can decrease sodium a little.  We will add a recipe for that in the near future so stay tuned.  We used Mae Ploy red curry paste without adding to much sodium for us.

Ingredients:

• 1 small baking pumpkin cut into ½-1 inch cubes, about 2 lbs. once cut
• 3 tbsp. of red curry paste
• 1 red bell pepper cut into long strips
• 2 cans of light coconut milk (13.4 Fl.oz./can?)
• 1 lb. of chicken breast sliced
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 ½ cup Thai basil leaves or regular basil if you can't get Thai basil
• 2 cans of water (using the coconut milk can)

Instructions:

1. Turn on a stove at medium-high.  Put a pot on the stove then add a can of lite coconut milk and 3 tbsp. of red curry paste.
2. Stir the paste into the coconut milk and make sure the paste is no longer in a chunk.  After the coconut milk is boiling, add the sliced chicken, stir the chicken in the curry and cook it until the chicken turns its color from pink to white.
3. Pour another can of lite coconut milk and two cans of water, follow with pumpkin cubes then increasing the stove heat to high.
4. Once the curry is boiling, turn the stove down to medium then add 2 tbsp. of fish sauce, basil leaves, and bell pepper.  Cook the curry for five minutes or check if the pumpkin cubes are soft enough for you.  Turn off the stove. You can eat the curry by itself or with steamed brown rice.

Printable recipe at the bottom of the page.

Thai Pumpkin Curry Closeup Image

Please let us know what you think in the comments section below.  Also, don't forget to follow us on social media and share if you like the recipe so we can afford to keep our site up and running.  🙂  As always, if you have special health concerns for your diet always consult your doctor if in doubt and let us know if you know how we can make our recipes healthier.

If you like this recipe you might also like one of these

Thai pumpkin custard

Thai Pumpkin Custard

Sweet Chili Pumpkin Seeds

Sweet Chili Pumpkin Seeds

Rice Cooker Massaman Curry

Rice cooker Thai Masaman curry ingredients

Printable Recipe

Thai Pumpkin Curry Pinterest Image