Easy Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry for Fall (Skin On, Yes Really)

What’s your favorite pumpkin dish?

To me, pumpkin means fall. Sure, you can buy one all year long. But a pumpkin in July? It just doesn’t feel right. Pumpkins belong to October, when it gets dark early, the windows fog up, and the kitchen is the coziest room in the house.

And that color! A pot of orange pumpkin cubes bubbling away looks like a little sunset. Add curry, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk, and the whole house starts smelling like a hug.

Here’s the best part: you don’t have to peel the pumpkin. Really! The skin turns soft as it cooks, so there’s no wrestling with a rock-hard pumpkin. Just cube it and toss it in.

🍛 Easy Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry

Serves 4 to 6, about 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 500 g (about 1 lb) pumpkin, cut into 3 cm (about 1 inch) cubes, skin on
• 500 g (about 1 lb) canned chickpeas, drained
• 250 g (about 9 oz) green beans, snapped in half
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 cm (about 1 inch) fresh ginger, grated (or ½ tbsp ground ginger)
• 6 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice of ½ lime
• 200 ml (about ¾ cup) coconut milk
• 200 ml (about ¾ cup) water
• 1 tsp sambal
• 3 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp sunflower oil
• 1 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1

Sizzle the aromatics. Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, sambal, and curry powder. Stir constantly for about 1 minute.

2

Simmer the pumpkin. Add the pumpkin and green beans, pour in the water, and crumble in the bouillon cube. Cover, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down low. Let it bubble gently for 20 minutes.

3

Add the rest. Stir in the chickpeas, coconut milk, and cilantro. Simmer on low for another 5 to 10 minutes. If you’d like it thicker, leave the lid off.

4

Finish. Stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

5

Serve over rice.

There you have it: a big, fragrant pot of fall. 🍂

So what do you think, are you going to give this one a try? And what do you make when pumpkin season starts? I’d love to know!

Photos: Citrus and Candy (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

P.S.: Every Saturday I publish a free mini-magazine on Substack, SATURDAYS With Diana. Take a look here if you like.