A delicious, sweet and hearty vegan pumpkin curry inspired by the Afghan dish kaddo bourani. The pumpkin is roasted with sugar and cinnamon making for a wonderfully fragrant and warming dish.
I am a huge fan both of spicy curries and of trying food from different countries around the world.
While, here in the UK at least, we often think of curries as coming from India, the term curry can actually refer to many different types of dish from across Asia.
And it never fails to amaze me just how varied these curries can be. Just think how different a Thai green curry is to a Japanese katsu curry, an Indian dal or a Pakistani spinach curry.
This vegan pumpkin curry recipe is another example. It is full of spice and flavour. The naturally sweet pumpkin is made even more so as it's roasted with cinnamon and sugar.
And the results are incredible.
Afghan vegan/vegetarian food
While Afghanistan is not well known for its vegan or vegetarian food - being a nation largely of meat eaters - this pumpkin curry is a truly outstanding vegan dish.
However, there are more veggie-friendly Afghan dishes than you might expect, including:
- veggie stuffed flatbread
- spinach stew
- kidney bean curry
- and this - pumpkin curry.
Pumpkin curry caught my eye
It was the pumpkin curry - kaddo bourani - that caught my eye though.
With its sweet cinnamon and delicious spices this is a wonderful vegan or vegetarian curry.
It's equally delicious as the centrepiece of a simple veggie dinner alongside some bread or rice, or as a side dish as part of a large curry feast.
Serving suggestions
- Traditionally kaddo bourani would be served with a yoghurt sauce. All the recipes I looked at were slightly different. For example some served the pumpkin in the yoghurt while others had it on the side. I suspect that this comes down to personal preference.
- I chose to serve this pumpkin curry in a tomato sauce with plain vegan yoghurt on the side.
- It's delicious with rice - or naan bread - or both.
- Lime pickle or mango chutney on the side if liked.
Storage
This recipe is great for batch cooking and reheats well.
Fridge
- To store in the fridge allow to cool completely then transfer to an airtight container with a lid.
- Store for up to three days.
- When ready to eat reheat until piping hot.
Freezer
- To freeze allow your curry to cool completely before storing in a freezer-proof container or bag.
- Label and date.
- When ready to eat defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat until piping hot.
- NB: the pumpkin may start to break down once it's been frozen - it will still be good to eat but the texture may change.
More vegan curry recipes
If you like this you might also like:
Ingredients
To make this recipe you will need:
- pumpkin or butternut squash
- sunflower oil
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- onion
- ginger
- garlic
- turmeric
- chilli flakes
- ground coriander
- ground cumin
- chopped tomatoes
- tomato purée
- salt and pepper
How to make Afghan vegan pumpkin curry
If you have made this recipe and loved it please consider leaving a comment and rating below.
Please do not reproduce this recipe without permission.
Afghan-inspired vegan pumpkin curry
Ingredients
- 500 g pumpkin or butternut squash peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons sunflower oil divided
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 inch piece ginger peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Place the prepared pumpkin or squash in a roasting tin. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, the sugar and the cinnamon. Mix well and roast for 40 minutes or until cooked through, stirring half way.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a medium pan.
- Cook the onion over a medium heat, stirring often, until soft.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute before adding a teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli flakes (or to taste) and ground coriander, and two teaspoons of ground cumin. Stir well and heat through for a further minute.
- Add a tablespoon of tomato purée and a tin of tomatoes, stir and cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin when cooked, mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve as a side dish or with flatbreads and/or rice. Lime pickle is also very good on the side.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate and is intended as a guide only.
- Suitable for freezing
Nutrition
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Jessica
Amazing Mandy!! I'm so happy that you made this! 🙂 I love pumpkin so will definitely give this a try. It sounds so nice roasted with cinnamon! x
Cook Veggielicious
Thanks Jess - looking forward to seeing your Afghan recipe next week!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
Wow - this sounds so amazing! I literally know NOTHING about Afghan cuisine, but since it is in proximity to other countries whose cuisines I adore I really feel I should find out more...especially if all the food is as good as this!! 😀 Eb x
Cook Veggielicious
I know right, feels like it really should be a cuisine we know more about x