Red Lentil Pumpkin Peanut Curry
Celebrate fall with this creamy Thai-inspired pumpkin peanut curry. It's packed with red lentils, veggies, peanut butter, and pumpkin.
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Servings: 4
Ingredients
Curry Paste
- 1 tbsp
red curry paste* - ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
Peanut Cream
- ¼ cup (60g) peanut butter
- 150 grams silken tofu
- ½ cup (120ml) water1
- ¾ cup pumpkin or kabocha puree
Curry
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 Japanese or Chinese eggplant2 chopped
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1 carrot2 sliced
- 1 cup
red lentils* rinsed - 3 cups (360ml) water
- ½ tsp
vegetable bouillon* - 1 zucchini2 sliced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce3
- 1-2 tsp sugar3
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Garnishes (optional)
- ½ cup thai basil leaves
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Make peanut cream by blending peanut butter, silken tofu, water, and pumpkin/kabocha puree until smooth.
- Heat half the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add eggplant and cook until softened and browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add remaining olive oil to the same pot and heat over medium. Add onions, garlic, and ginger and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions turn translucent, 3-5 minutes.
- Add carrots and cook for 1 minute.
- Add curry paste, cumin seeds, coriander, and nutmeg and stir for 30 seconds to toast the spices.
- Add red lentils, water, and bouillon. Simmer 10-20 minutes until lentils are soft.
- Add eggplant, zucchini, peanut cream, soy sauce, and sugar. Simmer another 10 minutes on medium low. Stir occasionally to make sure the bottom isn't sticking.
- Turn off heat and stir in lime juice. Taste and add more salt, sugar, or lime juice if desired. Garnish and serve.
Notes
1) For an even creamier curry, you can replace the water with almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk if you prefer.
2) Feel free to try other vegetables, keeping in mind different cook times. Here are my suggestions:
- Add with lentils: bell peppers, mushrooms, potatoes
- Add with peanut cream: broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans
- Add after peanut cream: snow peas, bamboo shoots, spinach, kale