- Serves 3 to 4 - Ready in 2 hours - (this includes 1.5 hours oven time) -
* Uses up 1 small (1kg whole) pumpkin*
Gather together...
1 small pumpkin (circa 1kg weight pre-cutting and seed-removal) OR use approx. 750g of skin-less pumpkin flesh hacked from two carved pumpkins OR use 1 large butternut squash. This recipe works best with chunks of pumpkin (if you want to use up the stringy parts of a pumpkin then see the Pumpkin Soup recipe, or the Pumpkin Tea Loaf recipe or the Pumpkin Nutella Loaf Cake recipe or the Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie recipe.)
2 tbsp olive / rapeseed oil.
1/8 tsp chilli flakes.
1/2 tsp curry powder.
1 tbsp olive oil / rapeseed oil.
1 onion, finely chopped.
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (or use 2 tsp of 'lazy garlic' in a jar).
1 tsp root ginger, finely grated (if it is frozen then there is no need to peel before grating).
1/2 tsp ground ginger.
½ cup of dried red lentils.
1 tin (400ml) of half-fat coconut milk (or use 400ml milk plus 2 handfuls of desiccated coconut).
200ml boiling water.
2 tsp stock powder (sieved).
Serve with...
Plain yoghurt.
Naan bread (shop-bought or homemade, see below for Naan recipe).
Get cooking...
1. Preheat the oven to 170 C (150 C fan) or Gas 3.
2. Knife-peel, de-seed, roughly chop and weigh out 750g of usable firm flesh from your pumpkin. (You can use a potato peeler if you are peeling a butternut squash). Remove any seeds and most of the stringy bits. Set aside the pumpkin seeds as they could be made into a tasty snack - see the 'Roasted Pumpkin Seeds' seasonal recipe blog post if you are interested in doing this. The stringy bits of the pumpkin can be used in the Pumpkin Soup recipe or in any of the sweet recipes requiring pumpkin puree (the Pumpkin Tea Loaf, the Nutella Loaf Cake or the Thanksgiving Pie).
3. Drizzle the firm pumpkin flesh with the 2 tbsp of oil, the 1/8 tsp of chilli flakes and the 1/2 tsp of curry powder, stir well to mix the oil and spices and to coat the pumpkin pieces. Roast the pumpkin pieces in the oven, on a tray, for 1 hour. Give a good stir after 30 minutes.
*Optional * Meanwhile make the dough for the Naan breads (see recipe below).
4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven once it has been in there an hour and allow to cool for a few minutes, so you don't burn yourself when cutting it up. Leave the oven ON, as you’ll need it again soon.
5. Boil half a kettle of water (for the stock).
6. Whilst the pumpkin cools a little, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large oven-proof, lidded pan and gently fry the chopped onion for a few minutes, then add the 2 cloves of garlic, the 1 tsp of finely grated root ginger and the 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, and fry gently for another minute.
7. Turn OFF the hob heat temporarily and add the ½ cup of dried red lentils and stir to coat. Then add the 400g tin of coconut milk, sieve in the 2 tsp of stock powder (to prevent unpleasant clumps) and add the 200ml of boiling water. Stir well. Turn the heat back ON and bring to a gentle simmer.
8. Meanwhile chop the pumpkin flesh into bitesize (1cm x 1cm x 1cm) pieces.
9. Add the chopped up roasted pumpkin bits to the pan and stir. Bring the pan back to a simmer. DON'T be tempted to add more liquid at this stage, as the pumpkin pieces will release liquid when they are simmering in the curry sauce.
10. Put the pan in the oven (with the lid ON) and cook for 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
11. Remove the curry from the oven (but leave the lid on to keep it warm) and switch the oven to 'grill' ready to bake the Naan breads.
13. Once the Naans are ready, dish up the curry and serve with yoghurt (to adjust the spiciness).
14. Enjoy!
15. Next day the leftover curry is delicious (eaten cold straight-from the fridge or properly reheated in the microwave or oven - stirred a few times during the reheating). To make the leftover curry go further, drain and add a 250g tin of green lentils (these are ready-to-eat, the same as the expensive 'Puy' lentils, just not grown in the Puy region). You can chuck these tinned lentils into pretty much any dish (leftover or not) to pad it out a bit - I always keep a few tins of these green lentils in the cupboard for last minute additions.
Adapted from this curry recipe in Olive magazine.
Gather together for 8 small Spooky Naan Breads...
250g plain flour (weighed on the scales or use 1.5 cups).
2 tsp sugar.
½ tsp salt.
A small handful of Nigella seeds.
½ tsp baking powder.
130ml milk.
3 tbsp (36g) vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing tray.
Get cooking the Naan Breads...
1. Put the 250g of plain flour, the 2 tsp of sugar, the ½ tsp salt and the small handful of Nigella seeds into a large-ish, wide based bowl (ideally use the bowl from a food mixer - if you have a dough hook attachment, as you can use it to knead with shortly).
2. Sieve in the ½ tsp of baking powder and mix the dry ingredients together well.
3. Add the 130ml of milk and the 3 tbsp (36g) of oil.
4. With a metal spoon, mix together the dough, for approx. 1 minute, to make a smooth, soft consistency.
5. (a) Either...On a clean, low-ish table, knead well (with cleaned then oiled hands - remove any jewellery first!) for 10 minutes, adding a little flour if the dough is too sticky and adding a little more oil if it is too dry. At first the dough will be inflexible, but persist with the kneading for 10 whole minutes (you can't rush it) and the dough will soften and end up smooth and silky.
5. (b) Or... Use the dough hook on a food mixer to knead the dough for you for 10 minutes.
6. Coat the dough in oil and wrap the oily-dough in grease-proof paper / a beeswax wrap in the fridge (or the freezer if you only have a few minutes before they are needed) as chilling first makes them more likely to puff up during cooking. Ideally chill the naan for at least 30 minutes, as it gives the dough time to 'relax' which makes it much easier to roll out.
7. Ten minutes before your curry finishes cooking, start to roll out your Naan. Wipe down, dry and drizzle oil on your work surface.
8. Also brush 1 tsp oil onto a large baking tray and put the tray into the hot oven (where the curry is still cooking) to heat up.
9. Meanwhile form the chilled Naan dough into 8 balls and roll out (using an oiled rolling pin) into very flat spooky skull / ghost shapes (each will be approximately. the size of an adult's hand).
10. Using a plastic lid (e.g. the lid of a reusable water bottle or a plastic milk bottle top) punch holes in the uncooked naan breads for eyes (ensure the holes are quite far apart as a very thin pieces of dough in between them will be too weak - also don't make the eye holes too close to the edge for this reason). You'll need to press down hard and twist a few times to get the dough eye-shapes to cut out.
11. Once the curry comes out of the oven, switch the oven to medium-high 'GRILL'.
12. Place 4 Naans on the hot baking tray (careful not to burn yourself) - make sure they are well spaced out.
13. Put the first batch of Naans under a hot grill in the oven and bake for 2 – 3 min per side until (hopefully) risen and lightly browned. Then repeat with the second batch of spooky Naans. Even if they don't puff up much they luckily still taste delicious and any kids will love peering through the eye holes before eating them!
