Roast Pumpkin, Chickpea and Spinach Curry (Vegan)

It’s that time of year! Hallowe’en decorations are being dusted off, leaves are falling from the trees and basics are making their way to Starbucks for some Pumpkin Spice. Well, here’s a different kind of spicy pumpkin. The roasted pumpkin carries a substantial flavour punch with its sweet, thick flesh.

It’s well worth making sure you don’t get a “carving pumpkin” for this, as they are certainly not bred for their taste. Also be sure to roast the pumpkin, don’t boil it – half of the flavour will be extracted by the water.

Ingredients (roughly 4-5 servings)

Pumpkin
Chickpeas
Spinach
Onion
2 Tins of chopped tomatoes
A few teaspoons of Tomato paste
Tin of Coconut milk
A teaspoon of ginger paste
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
(APPROX…)
2 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Ground coriander
1 tsp Tumeric
4 or 5 Cardamom Seeds
Oil

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C.
Cube a medium sized pumpkin, coat in oil and roast in the oven until soft and beginning to brown. A knife should slide in and out effortlessly.
While the pumpkin cooks, heat some oil in a deep pan and gently fry a chopped onion or two. Sprinkle a little salt on to stop them browning too much, and put the lid on the pan to keep get them extra soft. It’s worth the extra few minutes.
Add the ginger paste and minced garlic cloves. Fry gently for a minute or two.
Add the spices and fry for a minute or two before adding the tomato paste and cooking for a further.
Pour in the tinned tomatoes and allow to simmer gently for 5-10 minutes.
(Optional step) – I’m not one for chunks of onion or tomato so I blend my curry with a stick blender at this stage.
Pour in the coconut milk, chickpeas and spinach, then simmer on a medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes until it has reduced and thickened.
When the pumpkin has cooked, add this to the curry and stir through well. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary – if it is still too tart from the tomatoes add some sugar, if it is bland add salt.