Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry

Good morning!  This week has (again) been crazy busy but I've managed to get a few new things made!  Yesterday was another day full of kitchen time wooohooo!!!  My cousin came over and we made Roasted Carrot soup, date balls (you know... those things Julie posted about earlier except without the peanut butter goodness), and a new one Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry with coconut rice (using cauliflower as the rice, I'll explain that more in a little bit).

I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, PaleOMG (and YES, this is another Paleo recipe!) and it sounded good, sort of easy, and a lot different than most of the stuff that we usually make.  You'll start to figure out that Julie and I have a habit of making Asian or Mexican food most of the time with a little Italian thrown in there as well.  We haven't tackled too much Indian cuisine so I decided to give this a try!  I've eaten Indian food before, not often but it's not completely foreign to me except I really haven't had much curry.  So... yesterday morning I visited the grocery for what seemed like the millionth time this week and got all my ingredients for this new recipe.  It went a little something like this...

Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry over Coconut Rice
Source: PaleOMG

Prep time:  10 mins         Cook time:  15 mins           Total time:  25 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

For the curry

• 1lb chicken, cut into cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• ⅔ cup canned coconut milk
• ½ cup pureed pumpkin
• ½ cup cashews
• 2-3 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• pinch of cinnamon
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cilantro, to garnish

 For the coconut rice

• 1 head cauliflower, stem removed, roughly chopped
• ½ cup canned coconut milk
• ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon raw honey
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. First add your chopped cauliflower to your food processor with the shredding attachment to “rice” the cauliflower or just chop it up with the blade in the food processor
2. Pull a large pot, place over medium heat, and add a tablespoon of coconut oil then add your cauliflower. Add a pinch of salt, then cover to help steam, mixing occasionally.
3. Now pull out a large skillet and place under medium heat. Then add your coconut oil.
4. Add your chicken stirring occasionally... when the outsides start to turn white, throw in your garlic and let that go for a min or two until the garlic becomes fragrant
5. Add your ⅔ cup coconut milk and pureed pumpkin to your chicken and mix until the pumpkin breaks down.
6. Now add your sliced onions and spices to cook down, you can turn the heat down just a little and cover it for a few minutes.
7. Then add your other ingredients for your coconut rice and cover to cook down. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn!
8. Let the rice cook for about 5-8 minutes until coconut milk has evaporated and you have sticky rice.
9. When chicken is done cooking and your curry has thickened a bit, remove from heat and add your cashews to the curry mixture.
10. Now place sticky rice in a bowl along with curry over top and cilantro to garnish!

This meal was warm and comforting, perfect for a fall day!  Enjoy!

Melissa