Pumpkin Week: Thai Chicken and Pumpkin Curry

Last week a coworker of mine offered up sugar pie pumpkins to the office. Too many had grown, and he needed to get rid of them. I signed up for five.

Deciding on what to do with the pumpkins has been a fun activity. I want to make a variety of dishes, and pumpkin curry seemed like an obvious first choice since I had almost all the ingredients.

1 small pumpkin (sugar pie is best), seeded and cubed (~ 1 lb)
1 small onion, yellow
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp grated palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb boneless and skinless thighs, cubed in to 1” pieces
½ red bell pepper, julienned
Juice from 1 lime
Handful of fresh cilantro on stem (1” long pieces)
¼ cup of fresh Thai basil
Steamed rice


1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pumpkin and cook until barely tender (approximately 8 minutes). Drain and set aside.


2. Mix together the red curry paste, the onions and garlic. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the mixture over low to medium heat until the aromas of paste begin to emerge.


3. Shake the can of coconut milk well, then whisk in half the coconut milk, the sugar, and the fish sauce to the pan. Once the oil begins to separate from the mixture, add the chicken and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. Add the pumpkin, red pepper, and the remainder of the coconut milk. Cook until the pumpkin is fork tender. Add the lime juice.


4. Remove from heat, add the basil leaves and garnish with cilantro.


I will be posting the rest of my pumpkin recipes this week, and - spoiler alert - an amazing halloween manicure tomorrow.


Bon appetit.