Pumpkins are undoubtedly one of the vegetable highlights of autumn. I started growing them at home last year, and often brought them into work for the kitchen team to experiment with. There’s usually a sigh whenever I interrupt morning prep in this way, but it often turns into one of joy, because the chance to work with an ingredient that’s truly seasonal invariably gets the creative juices going. There’s a wide array of pumpkin varieties out there, all with slight flavour differences that are brought to life by roasting or charring (when pumpkin isn’t available, squash will happily act as a substitute). These two dishes showcase the versatility of this underrated vegetable, and provide an insight into how we get the most out of them in a restaurant kitchen.
Lime pickle pumpkin curry with spiced hispi (pictured top)
Lime pickle gives pumpkin a turbo boost of flavour. Here it’s served with hispi cabbage, but that could easily be switched to a fillet of fish, pork loin or even lamb cutlets, all roasted with the same butter. Any excess curry can be frozen to use at a later date.
Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 4
1kg pumpkin, cut in half, pulp and seeds removed and discarded
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper
1 small white onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tbsp madras curry powder
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 green chilli, finely sliced
2 tbsp lime pickle – Geeta’s for preference
330ml tinned coconut milk
For the cabbage
100g softened salted butter
½-1 tsp garam masala, to taste
25g coriander, leaves and soft stems, roughly chopped
Zest of 1 lime
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 hispi cabbage, cut into quarters lengthways
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Cut the pumpkin halves, skin and all, into manageable chunks, then lay them skin side down on a greased oven tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle over the smoked paprika, and season lightly with salt and pepper, then toss to coat. Roast for about half an hour (the exact cooking time will depend on the variety and thickness of the pumpkin), until the pumpkin flesh is cooked through and turns golden. Take the tray out of the oven, leave to cool slightly, then scoop the flesh out of the skins; discard the skins.
In a large saucepan, gently heat a tablespoon of olive oil, then sweat the onion, curry powder, garlic, chilli and lime pickle, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the pumpkin flesh, stir until it’s heated through, then add the coconut milk.
Pour the pumpkin mix into a blender (you may have to do this in batches), then blitz smooth and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Keep warm over a low heat.
Meanwhile, make the garam masala butter. Put the softened butter, garam masala, coriander, lime zest and spring onions in a bowl, then mix to combine.
On a medium to high heat, warm a generous glug of olive oil in a griddle pan large enough to hold all the hispi quarters (if you don’t have a griddle, a large frying pan will do). Char the cabbage for three or four minutes on each cut side, then turn the wedges on to their non-cut side and smother with the butter (the butter keeps well in the fridge, so use as little or as much as you like). Put the pan in a 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 oven for 12 minutes, until the cabbage has softened.
Spoon a generous amount of the pumpkin curry on to a platter and top with the hispi wedges. Pour over the buttery cooking juices from the cabbage pan and serve at once with plain rice and/or chapatis.
Hake, pumpkin katsu curry and togarashi
This dish was inspired by a trip to Japan a few years ago, during which I had katsu curry halfway up a snowy mountain. When I got back home, pumpkins were in season and worked perfectly as a base for katsu sauce. Again, freeze any excess sauce to use at a later date.
Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 15 min
Serves 4
For the katsu curry
1kg pumpkin, halved, pulp and seeds removed and discarded
Olive oil
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
Salt and black pepper
40g sriracha
40ml soy sauce
40ml mirin
5ml sesame oil
15-20g medium curry powder, or to taste
For the fish
Vegetable oil, for frying
50g gluten-free self-raising flour
175-200ml sparkling water
400g hake fillet, skinned and cut into four equal pieces
100g panko breadcrumbs
Togarashi seasoning, to finish
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Cut the pumpkin skin and all into manageable chunks, then lay them skin side down on an oven tray. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the whole Sichuan peppercorns and season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast the pumpkin for about 30 minutes, until the flesh is cooked through and its colour has deepened to a golden colour (depending on the variety of pumpkin and on the size of the pieces, it may take a little longer to reach this stage). Remove, leave to cool a little, then cut into 4-5cm skin-on chunks.
Put the cubed pumpkin and all the other katsu curry ingredients in a blender (you may have to do this in batches), then blitz smooth; if the sauce seems too thick, add a little water to loosen and blitz again. Keep the curry sauce warm on a low heat.
Take a deep saucepan that’s wide enough to hold the two pieces of hake in a single layer, fill it with vegetable oil to come 10cm up the sides, and heat it to 190C/375F (if you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil’s hot enough by dropping in a slice of bread – it’s ready if the bread turns golden after 10 seconds).
While the oil is heating up, make the batter. Put the flour in a large bowl, then whisk in enough sparkling water to loosen to the consistency of double cream. Coat the fillets of hake one by one in the batter, toss in the breadcrumbs until well coated, then carefully lay in the hot oil. Fry for three to four minutes, turning occasionally, until the batter coating is crisp and golden, then use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
Season the fish with salt, then cut into 2cm-wide slices. Spoon the curry sauce on to a large platter, top with the fish, sprinkle generously with togarashi and serve immediately with white rice.
