Thai Pumpkin Curry

The one thing I don't miss about the US is Halloween. I hate that. I really do. I understand the kids have fun and all that. And it is kinda cute to see small kids in cute costumes trick-or-treating. But the older kids & adults with their scary costumes really freak me out. So come Halloween, I'd stick around during the early hours to greet & treat the little kiddos and by 6ish head out of the house for dinner or a movie or something, just to avoid those macabre-looking folks whom I'd have to greet with a fake smile while inside I'd be going "aaaarggghh!!".

Now that I'm in Bangalore I had quite forgotten about Halloween. No in-your-face Halloween themed displays anywhere, you see. Come Oct 31, I was happily taking Baby S for a stroll in my colony when I spotted a Spider Man. Then a princess. And I went "uh-oh! It's followed me here too!". Since there was no escaping this one, I quickly ran out and got some candy. And our door bell rang and rang and rang. Close to 50 kids, including M. I quite liked this Halloween, I must say. These were little and older kids, most of whom I knew. Makes a lot of difference. You also realize how much smaller the world is getting now and how much more of a melting pot it has become. It is great that we celebrate festivals that are not necessarily ours. Great lesson to kids on acceptance & celebration of other cultures.

With N being out of town and the kids not caring much about food (in fact, M can happily live on love and fresh air!), I cook the most boring things these days. Easy but uninspiring stuff that I make sure include protein & veggies. Done. But every once in a while, I get all enthu and cook a nice dish or even a whole meal for myself. This was one of those. Had a small pumpkin, made a Thai curry and ate it all up! Good stuff. Add a dash of fish sauce, if you have. I did not but it still tasted so, so good.



Recipe Source

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin, seeded, peeled and cut into thick cubes
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water (or skip this, and make it 1.5-2 cups of coconut milk. I tried to make it light)
1 small onion
3-4 pods garlic
1 tbsp Red Curry Paste (I used store bought paste, Maesri brand)
1 heaped tsp palm sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cooking oil
a dash of fish sauce (I skipped this)
salt to taste

Method:

Make a paste of the onion, garlic and the red curry paste using a few tsps of water.
Heat oil in a pot. Fry the above paste until fragrant.
Add the pumpkin pieces, coconut milk, water, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
Simmer and cook on low until the pumpkin is done.
Garnish with chopped Thai basil (which I did not have).
Serve with jasmine rice.

This curry goes to Kavitha's HCC- Healthy Lunch, an event started by Smita. Thanks, both!