This nutrient-rich, delicious dish is a great autumn-winter warmer. It’s also super-easy to make and provides welcome support to yoga/meditation practice at this time of year.
When I shared my tips for autumn yoga I mentioned the benefits and pleasure of eating seasonal foods, and that we are grow-your-own fans. We have had an allotment in Hertfordshire for the last 5 years.
We have been inundated with pumpkins this autumn and huge, tasty ones at that.
After making a scrumptious soup and savoury tart from the first of these, I still found myself with just under a quarter of it left. As luck would have it, a fellow mum (thanks Jenny) mentioned she was going to make a River Cottage pumpkin and chickpea stew.
The recipe below is a version of that. I tend to make use of whatever we have at home at the time (chickpeas were already in our store cupboard), so there are a few modifications.
It also gave me the chance to use some of the spice mix kindly given to me by another friend (thanks Lucy) after her return from Marrakesh. I’m not entirely sure what its individual components are, but my guess is that it includes at least cumin, coriander and cinnamon. Perhaps a little heat too. I’ve broken it down in the ingredients list. If you don’t have these spices to hand, by all means just use two teaspoons of ready mixed spice such as ras-el-hanout (available in supermarkets) instead.
Another plus to this dish is that it freezes well. That way, a healthy lunch/supper is ready within minutes (as long as I remember to defrost it overnight!).
If you don’t have a tagine to cook it in, just use an ordinary pan as I have here:
Ingredients – makes 4-6 generous servings
1 can chickpeas (or 250g dry and soaked overnight etc. if you prefer)
50g red lentils
500-700g diced pumpkin (from 1-1.3kg unprepared)
2 tomatoes/8 cherry tomatoes
1 carrot, chopped into chunks
1 red pepper, chopped into chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 onion, chopped
25g sultanas (optional)
1 bayleaf
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated (or ½ tsp dry)
1tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
Pinch of cinnamon
¼ tsp red chilli flakes (or fresh red chilli or cayenne pepper) use more if you like more heat
750ml vegetable stock (500ml for 500g pumpkin)
Fresh parsley and/or coriander
Method
1. Chop your veg. Grate the fresh ginger if using.
2. Gently fry the onion and garlic with the spices and chilli in the olive oil for 5 minutes until beginning to become tender.
3. Add the tomatoes, red lentils, stock, sultanas if using, bayleaf and chickpeas. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the pumpkin. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Check after 10 as the pumpkin can quickly become very soft (though that isn’t a problem in terms of taste).
5. Taste and season if desired. Sprinkle with parsley and/or coriander to serve.
Serve with your choice of couscous, (brown) rice or bread. Or just on its own. I’m also partial to having something green on the plate – broccoli, green beans etc.
Enjoy the inner warmth and nourishing goodness of the dish. Have seconds if they beckon.
Note: the pumpkin can be substituted with butternut squash, or a mixture of the two.
Photos: author’s own