Sunday 21 September 2014

Chicken Pumpkin Curry


Pumpkin.
Never held one. Never cooked one.

Yup, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this orange looking thing.

One of the first foods Bubba ate was pumpkin (actually I wouldn't say ate because the furniture had most it, so more like played with the puree). Since baby food requires only a handful of tiny cubes at a time, I was left with half a pumpkin. Sitting in the fridge. Just staring at me.

I swear I dont know what to do with that squash.

For some reason, I thought pumpkin was soft. Boy was I wrong!

Chopping it up was a challenge, removing its skin required some sort of skill, which I obviously don't have.

I was thinking to myself, there's got to be a technique on pumpkin skin removal. So ladies and gents, willing to share yours please?

All that effort was worth it though, considering its nutritional value. Pumpkin is a good source of:
Fiber (smooth sailing digestion),
Vitamin A (vision mission & fights free radicals)
Iron (blood's buddy)
Pumpkins will probably be a regular in my kitchen now.

So I went through a couple of recipes from baking pumpkin cookies, pies to soups.

Somehow I ended up cooking curry. Must be the punjabi in me.

Well honestly with Bubba seeking attention every 5 seconds and me being alone, I needed to whip up something easy and fast. So, no baking at this point thank you very much.

Enough of me blabbering, here's the-use-whatever-I-have-in-the-kitchen-and-whip-it-up-fast- Chicken
Pumpkin Curry.


Ingredients:
www.thatskinnyelephant.blogspot.com
That Skinny Elephant
Half a chicken, cut into pieces
Half a pumpkin, cubed
One whole onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp of ginger, cut to thin stripes
2 whole red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
A twig of curry leaves, strip the leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup of yoghurt
Warm water (if you like your curry a little thick you can skip this, otherwise add in to your liking)

Chicken Marinade
Turmeric
Salt
Pepper

1. Marinate chicken for about an hour. The longer the better.
2. Heat up oil. Fry cumin,mustard seeds and curry leaves till fragrant. Gradually add in ginger, garlic, onions and chillies (stir fry for a few minutes everytime you add in an ingredient).
3. Add in and cook the chicken pieces. Stir in pumpkin cubes.
4. Once pumpkin turns slightly soft, pour the yoghurt in and mix well. Salt to taste. Cover and let it cook on low heat till pumpkin is soft or gravy like. ( Here is where you pour in some warm water to the consistency of your taste)

Walla, pumpkin curry! Serve hot with basmathi rice.

Perhaps a little coriander for garnish. I didn't have any, hence the pic looks a little meh.
Another note, as you may have noticed I used yoghurt, its just because I like the light taste and its nutrition value. You may substitute it with good old coconut milk too.

If any of you lovelies out there tried out this recipe, I'd appreciate your feedback. I somehow think something is missing, maybe chilly powder.. hmm I don't know. Do advice :)

Enjoy. Happy Monday.

Kisses of rainbows from That Skinny Elephant.

4 comments:

  1. Hello, stumbled across your blog from the healthy baby group! Read and really enjoyed your sense of humor and this recipe!

    Random tip, an easier way to peel pumpkin if you don't want to wrestle it is to either zap it in the microwave with a cup of water or wet towel until it softens. Just a couple minutes if you're making something that you still want it in chunks or else if you just need the puree then you can cook it more then scrape the "meat" off with a spoon! Could also use a steamer if you're anti-microwave! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Wonderkate, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
      Thanks so much for the tip, I'll be sure test it out on my next attempt, probably with butternut squash (leftover from Bubs puree).
      Do drop by and let me know how the curry turned out ya!

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  2. Tried this; turned out super good. YAY! I didn't use pumpkins though; I just had chicken and peppers HEE but the thing is, I am super stoked it turned out pretty legit. Thanks for sharing such an easy peasy chicken squeezey recipe! More recipes PLEASE.....something with fish maybe? #imafan

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    Replies
    1. Hie Lavilicious, thank you for trying it out!
      Fish recipes, noted! Now I have an excuse to whip up some fish curry next week. Will keep you updated.
      Enjoy your weekend love!

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