Pumpkin Adzuki Bean Curry

Ever since I discovered adzuki beans, I have been trying it out in various recipes. Taking inspiration from Jamie Olivier’s pumpkin, chickpea and coconut curry, I combined the pumpkin with adzuki in a mildly spiced coconut base. Verdict: it’s a win.

This pumpkin adzuki bean curry recipe uses no onion, garlic or dairy. The coconut base brings out beautifully the gentle flavors of pumpkin and adzuki beans.

You Need:

• Pumpkin – 400 grams
• Adzuki beans – 1/2 cup
• Light coconut milk* – 1 cup
• Tomatoes – 2 small or 1 large
• Green chili – 1
• Salt – to taste
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida powder – a pinch
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil – 2 teaspoons
• Greens for garnish (curry leaves, coriander leaves, baby spinach) – a few sprigs (optional)

*If you are out of light coconut milk, try working with thick coconut milk or coconut cream in its place – reduce the quantity proportionally and dilute with water to make a cup.

How To Make Pumpkin Adzuki Bean Curry:

1. Prepare the beans

Wash and soak the adzuki beans in salted water for 7-8 hours.

Drain and rinse. Boil the soaked adzuki beans in salted water till done: about 15 minutes in a pressure cooker or 30 minutes in a covered, thick-bottomed pan.

Drain out the water from the cooked beans.

Do not discard the water in which adzuki beans were boiled – use it as stock for curries or for kneading paratha dough.

2. Prepare the raw vegetables

Wash, deseed and cut the pumpkin into bite-sized pieces (2-3 cm).

[I do not peel the pumpkin when using organic. If you’d rather peel, go ahead and do it – remember to reduce cooking time by a couple of minutes for peeled pumpkin.]

Finely chop the tomatoes.

Slit the green chili vertically.

3. Cook the curry

In a pan, heat two teaspoons of oil.

When the oil is hot, set heat to low, add mustard seeds and asafoetida powder. When the mustard seeds have crackled, follow with finely chopped  tomatoes and slit green chili. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder coriander powder, red chili powder and stir well with the tomatoes. Set heat to low and cook, stirring periodically.

After 4-5minutes – or when the raw smell of the spices has disappeared – pour coconut milk into the pan. 

To prevent curdling, pour the coconut milk gradually from the side of the pan – preferably after the pan has cooled a bit – rather than dunking it in  the hottest part of the pan. Stir frequently while it heats up, do not cover the pan.

When the coconut milk comes to a boil, add salt and chopped pumpkin into the curry. Add water to thin out the curry as needed. Let the curry cook for 15 minutes or till the pumpkin is nearly done.

At this stage, add boiled adzuki beans to the simmering pumpkin coconut curry. Stir around and cook for another 5 minutes, or till the flavors have mingled.

Pumpkin adzuki bean curry is ready. Garnish with fresh greens (coriander leaves, curry leaves, baby spinach) and spices (roasted cumin powder, red chili powder).

Meal idea: brown rice with pumpkin adziki bean curry.

Notes:

Check out other recipes on the blog that use coconut milk…

…and a couple of others that use adzuki bean: