If you've prepared pumpkin, there's a good chance you'll have a leftover piece. And then the question is, what can you still do with it? That idea is the basis of this simple vegetarian noodle curry with pumpkin. A quick vegetarian one-pot dish that, in addition to pumpkin, also includes eggplant and bell pepper. And it's nicely spiced. You can serve this with either noodles or rice. After the recipe, further down in this article, you'll find more detailed tips on how to prepare this delicious vegetarian curry.
vegetarian pumpkin curry with noodles
Ingredients
- 500 grams pumpkin Hokkaido
- 250 grams noodles
- 1 eggplant
- 1 red bell pepper
- 400 grams diced tomatoes 1 can
- 100 ml soy sauce
- 100 ml water
- 1 white onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 red chili peppers
- 10 grams fresh cilantro
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- mustard
Instructions
Preparing the vegetables
- Dice the Hokkaido pumpkin and eggplant.
- Remove the core and stem from the bell pepper. Slice it into thin strips.
- Slice the onion into rings. Clean the garlic cloves and chili peppers, then finely chop them.
- Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem and finely chop them.
- Finally, chop the cilantro.
Making the curry in the wok
- Heat some olive oil with a bit of mustard in a wok.
- Add the onion, garlic, and chili peppers in sequence. Let them sauté for a few minutes.
- Add the pumpkin, eggplant, and bell pepper. Stir-fry over high heat for a few more minutes.
- Add the can of diced tomatoes, soy sauce, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for about ten minutes.
- Then add the remaining spices: rosemary, cilantro, paprika powder, ginger, etc. Mix everything well.
- Let the curry simmer for another ten minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the flavors are well blended. Taste regularly and add more spices if needed. If too much water evaporates, you can add some more.
Cooking the noodles
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles as indicated on the package. They usually don't need much time (about four minutes).
- Drain the noodles once they are cooked.
- You can either serve the curry on the noodles (my usual method on day 1) or mix the noodles with the curry and then serve (my method for leftovers).
Nutrition
How to Make Vegetarian Pumpkin Noodle Curry?
This super healthy pumpkin curry requires a bit of preparation to chop the vegetables. But once that's done, it's actually quite simple: everything goes into the wok until it's cooked and flavorful.
The preparations
We'll start with the preparations, the mise en place.
The Pumpkin
Cutting pumpkin can be a bit tricky. Good utensils are essential: use a large, sharp knife. This way, you don't have to exert too much force, and the risk of sudden slips is minimal. Always ensure that your supporting hand stays out of the cutting area.
It's best to halve a fresh pumpkin first. You might want to cut off the top and bottom ends to ensure it lies securely and doesn't roll away. Once halved, remove the seeds. Then cut the pumpkin into one to two-centimeter-thick slices. Peel these slices easily and finally cut the pumpkin into cubes. This Youtube video explains very well how to peel a Hokkaido pumpkin.
Does it have to be a Hokkaido pumpkin? No, you can make this vegetarian noodle curry just as well with butternut squash. I've done that too, and it works perfectly. I haven't tried other types of pumpkin yet.
The Eggplant and Bell Pepper
Cut off the ends of the eggplant and then halve it lengthwise. Place one halved eggplant flat side down on the cutting board and then slice it horizontally and vertically. You can then cut it into cubes across the width.
For the red bell pepper, remove the top and bottom. Then easily remove the core with the seeds. Halve the remaining middle part and cut it into thin strips. Finely chop the remaining top and bottom as well.
The Remaining Herbs
Now we have prepared the three main ingredients. It's time to finely chop the remaining flavorings.
Remove the skin from the onion and the garlic. Halve the onion and cut it into rings. You can either finely chop the garlic or press it directly into the wok later using a garlic press.
Strip the rosemary leaves from the stems and chop them finely. Chop the cilantro finely as well.
Just like the onion and garlic, finely chop the chili peppers. Remove the stem, halve them lengthwise, remove the seeds, and then finely chop the peppers. Important: wash your hands now and definitely don't touch your eyes. That burns incredibly.
Cooking the Vegetarian Noodle Curry with Pumpkin
Now that we are done with the preparations, we can put the wok on the heat. Heat some olive oil with some mustard and let it get really hot. If you have coconut oil at home, you can use that too. Add the onion, garlic, and red chili pepper. Let them fry for a few minutes until the aromas are well released.
Next, add the red bell pepper, pumpkin, and eggplant. Stir-fry for a few minutes over high heat. Then it's time to add the liquids: the diced tomatoes, soy sauce, and water. First, add the diced tomatoes and mix the soy sauce and water in the can. This way, you get all the remaining tomato bits. Bring everything to a boil and then lower the heat. Let the vegetables simmer in the liquid for about ten minutes.
Add the remaining spices: ginger powder, rosemary, paprika powder, cilantro, and any other spices to taste. Feel free to adjust the amounts to your preference or use completely different spices.
Let the curry simmer for another ten minutes. Taste regularly and add water if the curry threatens to become too dry. The pumpkin should be well-cooked, and the eggplant should be almost dissolved, giving the best flavor.
The Noodles
While the curry simmers and cooks, prepare the noodles. Most noodles need only about four minutes in boiling water. Drain them afterward. I like to save the cooking water; you can make soup with it the next day or add a bit of it to the curry.
You can choose to serve the noodles and curry separately or mix the noodles into the curry for a true one-pot dish. This is usually my option on the second day with leftovers.
Of course, you can also serve this pumpkin curry with rice.
More surprising.pumpkin
I can't wait for autumn to start making pumpkins. Apart from this vegetarian pumpkin curry with noodles you can find more inspiration in the following articles:
- Spicy curry pumpkin soup.
- Spicy roasted pumpkin.
- Lukewarm pumpkin salad.
- Delicious filled pumpkin.
- Biscoff pumpkin pie.
More surprising.vegetarian
Vegetarian dishes appear on the menu more often nowadays. And the recipes get more and more advanced and creative. You can find some more vegetarian inspiration in these articles:
- Banana peel curry.
- Easy vegetarian Greek pasta salad.
- Walliser Käseschnitte.
- African peanut stew.
- Tomato-eggplant-lentil curry.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
toondebacker says
The best way to use leftover pumpkin.