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This easy one-pot pumpkin curry is the perfect fall comfort food for the cold season! A fragrant Indian inspired veggie curry made featuring warming spices, fresh veggies, chickpeas. Pumpkin purée in the curry sauce makes it so creamy! Perfect for weeknights! Jump to Recipe
We’re in the midst of squash/pumpkin season and while I love using pumpkin puree for all by bakes and cakes, I do also enjoy our favorite fall baking ingredient in savory dishes. During the cozy season, I love adding canned pumpkin puree to soups, curries, as a natural thicking agent and to add that gorgeous orange color. I mean look at those bowls of pumpkin curry! Don’t you want to hug them?
Canned pumpkin purée and creamy oat milk, heavily seasoned with Indian spices make a sweet and satisfying curry sauce for the chickpea curry. It’s a rich, creamy fall-centric curry that you can eat on its own, or serve over steamed rice, quinoa or couscous. If you want to incorporate different vegetables, go ahead. I love to stir in some spinach, but baby kale or sliced green beans add the same color effect. Just add your leafy green during the last few minutes of cooking, letting them soften in the sauce.
As with any curry, the key to this dish is building layers of flavor! In this pumpkin chickpea curry we begin with browning some ground spices in hot oil to kick-start those Indian aromatics then add some onions, garlic and ginger. You can use any other squash purée or mash instead of pumpkin.
Your kitchen will already smell spectacular by now, and all that’s left to do is stir in some oat milk, pumpkin puree, chickpeas, and veggies of your choosing. Now simmer until the veggies are cooked. Season with a squeeze of lime, and your curry is served! I love this with rice but you can opt for any other grain or cauliflower rice.
Pumpkin Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp paprika, or use 3/4 tsp smoked paprika, and 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 to 1 tsp curry powder, or use garam masala or Berbere or Jamaican curry powder
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced.
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, or squash mash
- 1 1/2 cup oat milk, or other thick non dairy milk such as coconut milk, or cashew milk
- 15 oz canned chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup other veggies such as butternut squash,, sweet potato, green beans, etc
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms, or veggies of choice
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup packed chopped spinach.
- lemon juice and pepper flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Plate a skillet over medium heat, add the oil.
- Add the paprika, coriander, cumin, curry powder, and mix well. Cook the spices until they get fragrant and bubbly.
- Add in the onion, garlic, and ginger until the onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add in the pumpkin puree and mix in, add in the non dairy milk, and mix in, add the chickpeas, bell peppers, mushrooms, veggies, salt, and mix in.
- Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the veggies are tender to preference. Fold in the spinach and take off heat.
- Add a good dash of lime juice, and some pepper flakes for garnish, and serve with rice, or other cooked grains.
Video
Notes
- Feel free to add any other veggies such as butternut squash, peas, baby corn, sweet potato, green beans, etc
- If you don’t have any ground spices you could use 1 tbsp of curry powder or Thai curry paste instead. Obviously, the flavor will not be the same, especially if you take this to the Thai direction. You would fry it in oil just like the spices.
- Instead of the cumin and coriander, you could also add some garam masala if you have some in your pantry.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients:
- The base of this curry is made by frying some warming spices like cumin, coriander, paprika, and curry powder in some oil. This is called tempering and is a great way to maximize the spices seasoning potential.
- To the spices, we add onion, garlic, and ginger – the Indian trinity.
- As for veggies, I went with chickpeas, red bell pepper, thinly sliced mushrooms, and spinach ( see tips for alternatives)
- Adding pumpkin puree adds some nice orange hue to this vegan pumpkin chickpea curry, makes it super creamy , and the sweetness from the pumpkin means that there’s no need to add sugar to the sauce.
- Freshly squeezed lime juice brighten and lighten this vegan pumpkin curry up and help balance out the sweetness and richness of milk and pumpkin. You could use lemon instead if you cannot find lime.
Tips:
- Feel free to add any other veggies such as butternut squash, peas, baby corn, sweet potato, green beans, etc.
- If you don’t have any ground spices you could use 1 tbsp of curry powder or Thai curry paste instead. Obviously, the flavor will not be the same, especially if you take this in the Thai direction. You would fry the paste in oil just like the spices, then add onions, ginger, and garlic.
- If you’re looking for a more Thai-style curry, try this Sweet Potato Curry
- Instead of the cumin and coriander, you could also add some garam masala if you have some in your pantry.
- This dish can be made ahead of time and is freezer-friendly.
- Not a fan of chickpeas? Add 10 ounces (284g) cubed firm or extra-firm tofu instead. White beans or lentils are another great addition to get that plant-based protein.
How to make Pumpkin Chickpea Curry
Place a skillet over medium heat, add the oil.
Add the paprika, coriander, cumin, curry powder, and mix well. Cook the spices until they get fragrant and bubbly.
Add in the onion, garlic, and ginger until the onion starts to turn translucent.
Add in the pumpkin puree and mix in, add in the non dairy milk, and mix in, add the chickpeas, bell peppers, mushrooms, veggies, salt, and mix in.
Cover and cook for ten minutes, or until the veggies are tender to preference. Fold in the spinach and take off heat.
Add a good dash of lime juice, and some pepper flakes for garnish, and serve with rice, or other cooked grains.
HOW TO STORE THIS CURRY:
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4days. You can also freeze this for up to 3 months.
Love your recipes Richa, and this one was great! So quick and easy. We don’t have pumpkin puree in Australia, so I just put a little pumpkin in first chopped up small and mashed it. I forgot to add lime juice at the end and when I remembered it went next level 😊
Thrilled you liked it!
A bit bland. I added gram masala and cayenne to pick it up. If I make again I would turn up the spice more. I also roasted red onions for a topping which worked well.
Roasted red onions is a great topping. You can adjust the spices to your preference.
Made this on the weekend and it is DELICIOUS. First pumpkin dish going into autumn. Once you’ve prepped the veggies, it is super easy to make. Rich flavours taste even better the next day. I used a whole pumpkin, puried half and used the rest as chunks in the curry. This is a winner and I will make it again for sure.
Thrilled you liked it!
Pumpkin chickpea curry sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to make it, but I have to finish my left over red lentil soup and make this later this week.
Thanks for the wonderful looking recipes!
Report back once you’ve made it.
Amazing. I didn’t have pumpkin puree so I roasted a squash in the oven. Only thing I would change is the salt amount. I did only 1/4tsp salt and 1/4tsp MSG for a double recipe, and it was plenty flavorful. If you’re using only salt you can probably get away with 1/4tsp . This may be your best recipe yet!
Love that you enjoyed it!
My roommate and I really enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.
Thrilled you liked it!
Wonderful Recipe. I made this curry for a community lunch event so that I could provide a gluten, dairy and meat free dish. I had to print the recipe 4 times after so many people commented that it was the best curry they had eaten. Thank you
Yay! Thank you for sharing.
WOW! Will be in our rotation. Easy, delicious, nutritious, comforting and pretty. Had to add 1.2 again of everything but spices due to those with stomach issues, but loved it both ways. Served with a shrimp salad from a sweet kale kit, a can of tropical fruit, apples, tangelos, cranberries and pepitas. Best meal in 2 weeks.
So glad you enjoyed it.
Found it a little bland. Would make again, adding fresh chilli with the garlic & ginger.
Might have been the pumpkin purée. Some brands are much thicker and that adds more volume which needs more spicing. Add more salt spiced and heat when you taste then adjust and simmer for a minute.
Nice-
I used whizzed up silken tofu instead of milk to up the protein. Yummy thank you.
Great tip!