Name: Peter Kuruvita’s pumpkin curry
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons ground coriander; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) Japanese or Kent pumpkin, washed well; 2½ tablespoons coconut cream; 4 garlic cloves, peeled; 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds; Coconut sambal, to serve; 100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) long-grain white rice; 1 fresh curry leaf sprig, leaves picked; 100 g (3½ oz) freshly grated coconut, or desiccated coconut; 2 cm (¾ inch) knob of fresh ginger, peeled; 2 small Indian green chillies, chopped; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon green cardamom pods; 1 tablespoon Dark roasted curry powder; ½ cinnamon stick; 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) coconut milk

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
50 min

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

My dad’s favourite curry, this dish is so tasty and easy to prepare. Serve it with roti and coconut sambal, or with another curry; the Ridged gourd curry is ideal as they are different colours.

The coconut rice powder can be used in any curry, to thicken it and enrich the flavour.

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) Japanese or Kent pumpkin, washed well

Method

For the coconut rice powder, dry-roast all the ingredients in a frying pan over medium heat until the rice and coconut have turned dark brown, stirring regularly so the coconut doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then grind to a powder using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Set aside.

Place all the mustard paste ingredients in a blender. Add