Pumpkin Chickpea Curry with Chapati

Autumn needs more pumpkin. And more warm soups, stews or curries anyway. Therefore, today we serve a delicious pumpkin chickpea curry. It warms from the inside and is – as all Indian food should be – nicely spicy. But it is free from ghee (clarified butter) and thus of course vegan. We serve it with homemade chapati. It is a thin flatbread with which you can soak up the sauce wonderfully. Of course rice goes well as a side dish as well.

In the Indian cuisine, of course, the spices are important for the authentic taste. But do not worry, you do not have to get a box full of rare spices first. The pumpkin chickpea curry needs besides garlic, onion and chilli only cumin, turmeric and the seasoning mixture garam masala. The sweet and sour finishing is provided by sugar and lime juice.

For the freshness we sprinkle some cilantro on top. But to calm down all cilantro haters directly: it’s not the end of the world if you omit the coriander or replace it with parsley. 😉

The vegan pumpkin chickpea curry is a true seasons all-rounder. Canned chickpeas and tomatoes are available throughout the year anyway. The pumpkin can be easily replaced. Most similar to it would be sweet potatoes. But also potatoes or other vegetables such as eggplant, carrots, cauliflower, etc. taste delicious in the curry. Possibly, the cooking time has to be adjusted a bit then.

PUMPKIN CHICKPEA CURRY WITH CHAPATI

Ingredients for 3 servings (about  1,50 Euros each):

CURRY

• 500 g hokkaido pumpkin, already deseeded
• 1 can (400 g) chickpeas
• 1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small onion
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 – 1 chili, green
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (alternatively: vegetable oil)
• salt
• fresh cilantro

CHAPATI

• 175 g flour + some extra to roll out
• 125 ml water
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation Curry
1. Cut the pumpkin into cubes of about 2 cm size.

2. Finely chop the garlic, onion and chili. Fry along with the cumin in a large saucepan with oil at medium temperature until the cumin begins to crack.

3. Now add turmeric powder and garam masala and sauté briefly. Add pumpkin, chickpeas, sugar and canned tomatoes. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 35 minutes with the lid closed until the pumpkin is soft but not overcooked.

4. Season the pumpkin chickpea curry with salt and lime juice. Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro. Serve with chapati or rice.

Preparation Chapati
1. Knead flour, water and salt in a bowl to a soft dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If it is too crumbly, add some water. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for about 1 hour.

2. Divide the dough into 6 approximately equal portions. Roll these into very thin discs on a well-floured work surface. Tap off excess flour.

3. Fry the chapati without adding fat in a pan at a relatively high temperature from one side for about 30 seconds, then turn over and fry for another 30 seconds from the other side. The occurring air bubbles in the chapati (= puffing up) are desired during the cooking process and can be easily pushed out.

4. Serve chapati directly. They can be kept fresh a little longer, if you brush the chapati after cooking with a little vegan butter or oil and cover them.