Thai pumpkin curry
Velvety red curry with tender pumpkin, fragrant lemongrass and coconut — brightened with lime, basil and coriander.
This Thai pumpkin curry is a weeknight hero: quick to build, deeply aromatic and comfortingly creamy from coconut milk. It lets the sweet, nutty flesh of pumpkin take centre stage while classic Thai flavours — lemongrass, ginger and curry paste — do the heavy lifting.
Make it when you want something warming but light on faff. It's brilliant for autumn dinners and scales well for a crowd — just serve with jasmine rice or sticky rice and a wedge of lime for a bright finish.
Ingredients
- 800 g pumpkin — peeled, seeds removed, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 400 ml coconut milk — full fat, one standard tin
- 60 ml red curry paste
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- 30 ml fish sauce
- 25 g palm sugar — or soft brown sugar
- 30 ml vegetable oil
- 1 brown onion — medium, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves — crushed
- 30 g fresh ginger — peeled and finely sliced
- 2 lemongrass stalks — trimmed and bruised with the back of a knife
- 1 red chilli — sliced, optional for extra heat
- 15 g Thai basil leaves — torn
- 15 g fresh coriander — leaves roughly chopped
- 30 ml lime juice — about 2 limes
- salt — to taste
Instructions
Prepare everything first: peel and cut the pumpkin into 3 cm chunks; slice the brown onion; crush the garlic; peel and slice the fresh ginger; trim and bruise the lemongrass; slice the red chilli and pick the Thai basil and coriander leaves.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium hob. Add the brown onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent.
Add the garlic, fresh ginger and bruised lemongrass to the pan and fry for 1–2 minutes until aromatic.
Push the aromatics to one side, add the red curry paste and fry it in the hot oil for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly until the oil separates and the paste is fragrant.
Stir in about one third of the coconut milk to loosen the paste and form a glossy sauce, cooking for 2 minutes so the paste emulsifies into the coconut milk.
Add the pumpkin, the remaining coconut milk, and the vegetable stock. Stir in the fish sauce and palm sugar, bring to a gentle simmer then reduce the heat and cook gently until the pumpkin is tender but still holds its shape.
Remove the lemongrass stalks if you prefer (they're fibrous). Stir in the lime juice and taste. Adjust seasoning with salt, extra fish sauce or a touch more palm sugar as needed, then simmer another minute.
Take the pan off the heat and fold through the Thai basil leaves and most of the fresh coriander. Scatter the sliced red chilli and remaining coriander over the top to serve.
Serve hot. Good accompaniments are jasmine rice or sticky rice and extra lime wedges.
Tips
- Cut the pumpkin into similarly sized chunks so everything cooks evenly — 3 cm is the sweet spot for tender but intact pieces.
- Fry the curry paste briefly in oil early on. That step unlocks flavour; if you skip it the curry tastes flatter.
- If you can't find palm sugar, use soft brown sugar but add gradually and taste — palm sugar has a more caramel, less sharp sweetness.
- To make ahead: cool completely, refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat gently on a low hob — avoid boiling to stop the coconut milk splitting.
- If the curry is too thin, simmer uncovered for a few minutes to reduce. If too thick, add 30–60 ml vegetable stock or water and reheat gently.
Substitutions
pumpkin → butternut squash, same quantity
Stays closepalm sugar → soft brown sugar, same weight
Stays closefish sauce → light soy sauce plus 1 tsp miso dissolved in a little stock (for vegetarian option)
Noticeably differentred curry paste → massaman or green curry paste, same quantity
Noticeably different
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 410
- Calories
- 5 g
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 700 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I make this curry vegan?
Yes — replace the fish sauce with a vegan fish sauce or a mix of light soy sauce and a little miso, and check your curry paste for shrimp paste. Use vegetable stock as written.
Why fry the curry paste first?
Frying the paste in oil releases the aromatics and deepens flavour. If you add it straight to liquid the curry will be less fragrant and more one-dimensional.
How can I stop the coconut milk from splitting?
Simmer gently over a low heat rather than boiling. If the sauce looks oily, reduce the heat and stir — aggressive boiling causes separation.
Can I freeze this curry?
Yes — cool fully, then freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Reheat gently from frozen; the texture of the pumpkin softens a little but the flavour holds well.
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