Creamy pumpkin cauliflower curry is a great vegetarian and vegan alternative to a classic holiday meal. The homemade curry paste and roasted vegetables are the heart and soul of this vegetarian dish. Moreover, the combination of sweet, spicy, tangy, crunchy, citrusy, tender and creamy is so amazing. In fact, your taste buds will be on a rollercoaster. Wink.
I am sure you’ve had curry before. But, have you ever made it yourself? Probably you just gave up because of a long list of ingredients. That was a mistake. Wink. Give it a try and make this delicious vegetarian and vegan curry. Although there are plenty of ingredients, making curry and curry paste is very easy.
Usually, when we think of curry we think of chili. But curry is so much more than just spicy chili. In fact, curry is a combination of warm spices, such as cilantro, paprika, ginger, garlic, pepper and many more.
Moreover, there are plenty of delicious curry paste recipes out there. And, they are also really simple to make at home. I’ve read quite some recipes and I was amazed by what a big range of ingredients are combined in a curry paste.
Therefore, I combined the most typical ones and then I added some others. Well, I just followed my instincts and added lemon zest, fennel seeds and walnuts. This paste has an earthy colour, some spiciness, texture and a little citrusy note. If you like more of a citrusy flavour, check this green chicken curry or this amazing Cape chicken curry, that I made some time ago. Delicious.
In order to get a lovely paste consistency, you can either use a mortar (good for the arm muscles; wink), a food processor or an immersion blender. Don’t skip this step. You have to make this delicious and aromatic paste. It really is the soul of the curry.
I like cauliflower
As you already know, I used cauliflower and pumpkin in this recipe. I love both because they are both kind of creamy. However, cauliflower is the main ingredient here. When roasted, it gets tender and creamy. Yummy.
In case you are a big cauliflower lover, check these great and easy cauliflower recipes; for instance try a light spicy cauliflower salad, a delicious roasted cauliflower pear soup, an amazing cauliflower crust Cottage pie, a Christmas cauliflower pomegranate salad, paleo carrot cauliflower rice and a bowl of creamy cauliflower-leek coconut soup.
In addition, to make sure to eat till the last drop of the curry, I would suggest some delicious bread. Yeah! I believe any bread works, however, the best choice would be homemade naan bread, chapati or papadum.
Ingredients for 2 portions of creamy pumpkin cauliflower curry:
- one head of cauliflower (ca 600 g, cut into florets)
- 200 g Hokkaido pumpkin (cut into cubes or wedges)
- olive oil
- chili oil
- 2,5 cm of ginger (cut into matchsticks)
- 1 red onion or shallot (sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
- 1 red chili (sliced)
- 300 ml vegetable stock (or hot water and the vegetable stock cube)
- 3-4 Tbsp of coconut cream (the canned milk)
- 1 Tbsp of brown sugar
- 80 g flaked almonds
- 20 g sultanas
- 20 g dried cranberries
Ingredients for the amazing kuzi masala paste (my version):
- 1 red onion (chopped)
- 1 garlic clove (chopped)
- 2 tsp of chili oil
- 2 Tbsp of paprika
- 1 whole peeled tomato or pelati (or 2 Tbsp of tomato puree)
- 1/2 Tbsp of cilantro seeds
- seeds of one star anise (crushed)
- 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds
- 2 Tbsp of ground walnuts
- 3 Tbsp of flaked almonds
- 2 tsp of lemon zest
First, preheat the oven to 200º C. Then clean and cut the cauliflower into florets and wash and cut the pumpkin into cubes or wedges. Lay a parchment paper on a baking sheet and put all of the cauliflower and pumpkin on it. Before baking, drizzle with some chili oil, sprinkle with salt and shake it. Put to bake for about 20 minutes or until lovely golden-brown.
Furthermore, the next step is to prepare the incredibly aromatic paste. In a plastic container or a mortar, combine all of the ingredients listed above (onion, garlic, oil, paprika, tomato, cilantro seeds, fennel seeds, star anise, walnuts, almonds and lemon zest), a sprinkle of salt and mix or blend until you get a paste consistency.
Taste it and adjust the seasoning. Maybe it needs another sprinkle of salt. Then, cover it and place it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Then, in a larger pan, drizzle some olive oil and some chili oil. Once hot, add the ginger, which you cut into matchsticks. After a couple of minutes, add the sliced onion and garlic and stir until soft and slightly golden. Only at the end, I added the chopped chili.
The curry paste is the soul of this curry
At this point, it is time to stir in the paste. Keep stirring for 5-7 minutes or until you smell the lovely spice’s aroma. Now, pour in the vegetable stock, add the sugar and coconut cream. Stir and let it simmer for 7-10 minutes. Consequently, the sugar will dissolve and the curry will become creamy.
By this time, pumpkin and cauliflower should be roasted and covered in a golden-brown colour. So, transfer them from the baking sheet to the pan with the creamy and flavour-packed sauce. Give the pan a little shake, cover with a lid and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes.
Meanwhile, toast the almonds, sultanas and cranberries in a small pan without using any additional oil. When the flaked almonds get slightly golden, remove the pan from the heat.
Finally, divide the creamy pumpkin cauliflower curry between two bowls and sprinkle both with toasted almonds, raisins and cranberries. If you fancy something more, and probably you do, since the Christmas holidays are coming up, simply add a cup of coconut yoghurt and some bread to it. A lovely homemade naan bread will be just perfect.
Enjoy and happy holidays!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
