Cauliflower Curry Recipe with Canned Pumpkin
This plant-based, 11-ingredient, Cauliflower Curry with Canned Pumpkin is for when you are craving a mild and tasty curry, or want to woo your family on curry night!
Wait – you don’t have a curry night? Maybe we can start one now?
Isn’t cauliflower such a versatile veggie? It can be creamed into a delicious sauce, riced into a tasty low carb rice substitute, and puréed into a luscious mashed potato sub. My favorite chef, Yotam Ottolenghi even made a cake with it!
No matter how I’ve cooked it; no matter if I’ve grilled it, roasted it, steamed it, puréed it, riced it, or sautéed it, cauliflower never seems to disappoint! And that’s one of the reasons why a head of cauliflower is on our weekly grocery list.
Last week I was on a bit of a curry kick, so I decided to make a curry with the cauliflower head we bought home this week.
I’ve made and shared a cauliflower curry on this blog in the past. That cauliflower curry was made with a base of onions + ginger + garlic + canned tomatoes + spices. It was a gloriously rich, spiced tomato curry.
However, today’s curry is a lot more on the mild side. This cauliflower curry has canned pumpkin purée mixed in with coconut milk to thicken it up as well as add another layer of sweetish flavor to it.
Is this Curry Spicy?
This curry is made with a pumpkin and coconut base. The resulting yellow curry sauce for this pumpkin cauliflower curry is gently spiced with fresh ginger, fresh garlic, lightly browned onion, smoked paprika, turmeric, and cumin, making it a mild curry.
If you like a spicier curry, then add in a teaspoon of chili powder or a teaspoon of red chili flakes.
Why we will love this Cauliflower Curry…
• It can be made in less than 30 minutes!
From the start, when I added the onion and oil to this pan, to the end when I took this Cauliflower curry off the stove, it took me a total of 25 minutes. I must have taken about another 5 – 7 minutes to dice the onion, ginger, garlic, and chop up the cauliflower. This means this curry is one heck of an awesome example of curry-in-a-hurry. You can save even more time if you pick up diced onion from the grocery store, along with bags of cut cauliflower florets.
• It is a tasty, vegan dinner with some roti/rice.
This Cauliflower Curry Recipe with Canned Pumpkin is so mild and so well flavored it is hard not to lick our plates clean.
• It makes for delicious leftovers.
This Cauliflower Curry Recipe with Canned Pumpkin seems to taste better on day 2! It stays fresh in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 days (it has never lasted longer than that in our home) which makes it a tasty dinner option with some store-bought naan, microwaved rice, or Sri Lankan roti.
What do you serve with this Pumpkin Cauliflower Curry?
My daughter and I enjoyed this tasty, mild, yellow curry with some rice and some salmon croquettes.
You can serve this vegan, creamy cauliflower curry with:
• Chickpea spinach curry,
• Easy Carrot Spinach Croquettes,
• Carrot Curry,
• Zucchini Curry,
• Date Tofu Curry,
• Mango Chutney, and
• Jackfruit Cakes,
For a delicious, vegetarian spread that is sure to please your family and friends.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp chili powder optional
- 2 cups coconut milk I use Chaokoh brand coconut milk
- 1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin puree
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp cilantro to garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice the yellow onion, ginger, and garlic.
- Add olive oil to a large frying pan or sauce pan and add the diced onion to it. Place pan on a stove top set at medium heat and saute onion for about 5 minutes. Make sure to stir a couple of times so it doesn’t burn.
- Then add in the garlic and ginger to it and saute another 5 minutes, stirring as needed.
- As onion, garlic, and ginger are sauteing, peel the extra leaves off the cauliflower head. If there are brown spots on it, slice those parts off and cut the cauliflower head into bite sized florets.*
- After sauteing the onion, garlic, and ginger, add in the coriander, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, and (if using), chili powder, coconut milk, water, and pumpkin puree and stir well until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Then add in the cauliflower florets and stir into sauce. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 10 minutes covered.
- Remove lid, add in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy warm.
Love how easy this is – cannot wait to try.
Yum! Iโm a meat and potatoes guy, but I keep getting closer on cauliflower! Recipes like this are going to turn me into a fan!
What a beautifully colored vegetarian meal it is! Once I read that this recipe is “Easy Sri Lankan recipe,” it intrigued me to give it a try! Planning to make it tomorrow; I just hope to get the same result as yours.
This looks so tempting. Love all the colours โ I’ve never had a curry with pumpkin, so I definitely must try it!
What a flavorful and delicious curry this is. Thanks for sharing. Will try with some flatbread.
What a healthy curry idea, Shashi! I love the creaminess that pumpkin brings to savory dishes, and this curry looks super creamy. And healthy, too! That means I can have a big slice of cake for dessert, right? ๐
cauliflower is one of my favorites. actually i am roasting some right now. i never thought of combining pumpkin with cauli – thank you for that suggestion.
Yum an easy and delicious curry, thanks for sharing