Instant Pot Indian Pumpkin Curry (Rasedar Kaddu)
Hearty, one pot indian pumpkin curry with creaminess of coconut milk and warmth of indian spices.Vegan, glutenfree! Perfect for autumn dinners.
Equipment
- Instant Pot Or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 300 g (10 oz) pumpkin diced into 1.5-2 inch pieces
- ¼ cup avocado oil or any cooking oil you use at home
Whole Spices
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds I use brown mustard seeds (rai)
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 Kashmiri dried chillies or use ¾ teaspoon red chilli flakes, adjust to taste
For The Masala (Sauce)
- 2 garlic finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely chopped
- ½ cup onion (1 medium), finely chopped
- 1.5 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1.5 teaspoon red chilli powder (hot, I use degi mirch), adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 4-5 curry leaves kadi patta, skip if not available
- 1 cup tomatoes 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- ¾ cup water or as needed
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk can go down to ⅓ cup if your coconut milk is very thick
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro leaves chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the pumpkin. You may peel off the skin or keep it (in that case, make sure that skins are edible). Dice into 1.5 inch pieces.
- For reference, I use 3 qt Instant Pot for making this curry. Plug in the instant pot. Press saute and set the timer to 15 minutes.
- Add oil and let heat up. Add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds & the dried chillies. Wait for the spices to crackle. If they don't pop, mustard seeds will taste bitter.
- Immediately add the chopped ginger and garlic. Fry for 8-10 seconds, taking care that they do not burn. Tip :- Ginger and garlic burn pretty quickly, and that will change the taste of your curry. Add a tablespoon or two or water to bring the temperature down.
- Next goes in the chopped onions. Fry the onins for 5-6 minutes or until they start turning golden brown. If your IP shows hot or burn, add a tablespoon or two or water to bring the temperature down.
- Sprinkle the spice powders (except garam masala) and add the curry leaves. Fry for 5-6 seconds.
- Add the chopped tomatoes next. Cook for 1-2 minutes and the tomatoes will start turning soft.At this point, also add ¼ cup hot water and fry the tomatoes till you see oil seperating.Tip - Add ¼ teaspoon of sugar right now if you like a sweetish profile in your curry.
- Introduce the pumpkin, sprinkle salt. Stir to coat the pumkin in the masala and fry for 2 minutes.
- Next, add garam masala and ¾ cup water, just enough to soak the pumpkin cubes. Press the cancel button.
- Press pressure cook on "normal" and set timer for 2 (or 3) minutes with vent in seal position. Let pressure release naturally for 3 minutes and then release the pressure manually.
- Open the lid, you will see that the curry is hot and bubbling. Wait for it to come to a simmer (2-4 minutes). Don't stir else hot pumpkin will get mushy.
- Add in the coconut milk, garam masala and lemon juice. Simmer the curry for 1-2 minutes on saute mode taking utmost care that coconut milk does not boil. Dont stir the curry else the pupmkin will break,the coocnut milk will mix on its own as curry simmers.
- Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve warm.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- Think Texture. Avoid adding onion paste or smooth tomato sauce in this recipe. Combined with pumpkin, a chunky masala tastes better.
- Make sure that once you add the coconut milk, the curry does not boil. As a general rule, if coconut milk boils, it loses its creaminess and chances are that it will curdle.
- Don't overcook the pumpkin; it should be tender but not mushy.
- Instead of fresh chopped tomatoes, you may use canned diced tomatoes.
- If you are using skin on pumpkin, set IP timer for pressure cooking to 3 minutes. Everything else remains the same.
- We like our curries spicy and the red chilli powder is noted accordingly, please adjust quantity to desired spiciness.
- Add Spinach or Kale - Add roughly chopped leafy greens such as spinach or kale along with pumpkin. If you are using baby spinach, add it when you add coconut milk.
- Pumpkin Chickpea Curry- You could add ½ to ¾ cup boiled chickpeas to this curry when you add pumpkin.
- Add Seafood - Yes, you heard it right. Pumpkin and prawns/shrimp are a great combination. Either use pre cooked shrimp or cook them separately in a small pan before adding.
Nutrition
Calories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 3gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 605mgPotassium: 504mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 7039IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!