I feel like I’m a little late to board the pumpkin train. Everywhere I look lately, there’s pumpkin bars, pumpkin smoothie, pumpkin bread, and, of course, pumpkin spice lattes. Truth be told, I’ve never really been an OMG PUMPKIN person.

Until this fall. Specifically, until this curry.

I’ve been really craving all things salty and savory lately rather than sweet, so I didn’t want to make any kind of pumpkin dessert. I just made my first curry a few weeks ago and loved the creaminess and slightly spicy flavors. I also loved that there were so many options for the base of the curry: you could eat it plain, or with rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa, etc.

So basically what happened is I whipped up a simple coconut curry with vegetables and threw in some pumpkin puree, and BOOM. This pumpkin coconut curry was born.

…Then I also threw in some chickpeas because you know how much I love those little suckers.

It’s super duper important, like absolutely necessary, to use pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. None of that sugary stuff here. I like to buy organic canned pumpkin puree, but Alexa from Fooduzzi has a great tutorial on how to make your own pumpkin puree, if you’re feeling really adventurous.

Did you know just 1 cup of cooked pumpkin can give you waaaaay more than the daily recommendation for vitamin A? Which is especially important for good eyesight! So eat yo’ pumpkin and other orange veggies.

You can throw this curry on any grains you like, or none if you prefer, but I went with buckwheat just ’cause I had some on hand. Buckwheat just happens to be gluten-free, so despite its name, it’s totally wheat free! This curry would also be delicious over rice or quinoa.

Make this curry on a chilly, cozy, fall/winter night when all you want to do is snuggle on the couch and watch Netflix, even though we all know that’s what we want to do no matter what season it is. Either way, this curry warms you up from the inside out and is like a comforting hug you can EAT. Those are the best 🙂