This no-fuss one pan Thai inspired Prawn and Pumpkin Curry is beautifully creamy, spicy and flavourful. The way red curries should be!
No-fuss easy, delicious one-pan curry
Some may think curries are quite challenging to do at home, and I would have to agree! That’s if you’re making the curry paste from scratch though.
These days we’re able to purchase good quality ready-made curry paste from our Asian grocery store. The brand I love to use for my Thai curry paste needs is ‘Maesri’ (not sponsored). These little curry tins are affordable, made in Thailand, and taste authentic.
The heat level is one thing to be mindful of when using store-bought curry. I can tell you now that some come with a punch and others are too mild for my liking. Maesri’s curry paste is relatively spicy with an intense flavour. As soon as you open the tin, the gorgeous Thai aromatics will hit you bang in the face.
This Prawn and Pumpkin Curry dish has a good amount of heat as I added 2 small red chillies. If you don’t like your curry too spicy, lessen the chillies or omit them.
So with a good quality store-bought curry paste, the rest is a cinch. A one-pan dish that will take you less than 30 minutes to have on the table.
You’re going to love this aromatic coconut-based rich curry. Spicy and sweet and a touch sour with plump juicy prawns and delicious bites of pumpkin. This Prawn and Pumpkin Curry tastes so rich and indulgent that you’ll be pleasantly surprised that the calories aren’t too bad!
Cooking Halloween pumpkin for the first time
After carving my first ever Halloween pumpkin for the ‘puking pumpkin guacamole‘, I wanted to experiment with cooking it. I’m so glad I didn’t end up naming my pumpkin because that would’ve made things difficult when it was time to chop him into pieces. Either way, I weirdly found myself attached to this pumpkin!
Halloween pumpkins are hollow and there’s not much flesh on the inside. They’re grown this way, so they’re easier to carve and use as decorations during Halloween. Although the flesh is edible, I’ve heard people say it’s not a good pumpkin to eat, as it’s tasteless. However, I also heard some say that it tastes good, just like any other pumpkin.
I’m curious by nature (just like my kitties), so I gave this a go! My Halloween pumpkin is going into my Thai-inspired Prawn and Pumpkin Red Curry.
When I was cleaning my pumpkin for carving, I noticed how stringy it was on the inside. I thought it was just stringy around the seeds but then saw that almost half of the flesh was stringy as well. How bizarre! After seeing this, I almost chickened out and thought about rushing to the shop to buy a regular pumpkin.
ALMOST, don’t count because I took a deep breath, chopped the stringy bits off and used that damn pumpkin!
What does Halloween pumpkin taste like? Halloween pumpkin tastes just like bland pumpkin. Its texture is a little grainy and watery, but it’s not too offputting. The flavourful curry helps to add flavour to the pumpkin. Regular pumpkin definitely tastes better, but in saying that, I’m glad we were able to eat some of the Halloween pumpkin, so it didn’t go to waste.
We have more aromatic and Asian recipes for you to try:
Ingredients for Prawn and Pumpkin Curry
Pumpkin – I used Halloween pumpkin because I didn’t want it to go to waste after using it as decoration. Whilst not the best-tasting pumpkin, it’s quite tasty in this recipe thanks to the rich flavourful curry sauce. If you don’t have a Halloween pumpkin to use up, go for a Butternut or Jap/Kent pumpkin.
Prawns – I used large frozen peeled prawns, which were conveniently deveined and cleaned. Thaw frozen prawns before cooking. The weight of the prawns stated in this recipe is for ‘prawn meat’, so if you’re using prawns with shells, you’ll need approximately 600gms/1.3lb.
Chicken powder – I cannot live without Knorr Chicken Powder (not sponsored). It seriously enhances the taste in many of my savoury dishes. Although I highly recommend this brand, other chicken powder or chicken stock cubes would work as a substitute.
Red curry paste – I used ‘Maesri’ red curry paste (not sponsored), it comes in a can and it’s of excellent quality. However, any good quality red curry paste would work too.
Kaffir lime leaves – These fragrant green leaves are pretty and distinct. A single kaffir lime leaf looks like there are two leaves conjoined together at the ends. They usually separate the leaves when sold, so count the leaves as they are (1 conjoined leaf = 2 leaves for this recipe)
Fish sauce – My favourite brand is Thai ‘Squid’ fish sauce (not sponsored), but any brand of fish sauce will work. It’s sold at supermarkets in the International section or at an Asian grocery store. Fish sauce is pungent with a strong fish smell but adds wonderful flavours to Asian cuisines.
Palm sugar – Palm sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree, so there’s no need to harvest the tree, which means it’s sustainable. Supermarkets or Asian grocery stores sell palm sugar, however, be sure to grab the good stuff. The ingredients listed should be 100% palm sugar for that beautiful caramel flavour. You can swap palm sugar for brown sugar in this recipe.
Subscribe to 3CatsFoodie’s FREE Newsletter
For the latest recipes and other fun stuff!
How to make Prawn and Pumpkin Curry
Step-by-step guide with photos
Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Scoop the fat that has settled on top of the coconut cream and add it into the pan along with the curry paste. Stir-fry the curry mixture for 5 minutes or until the oil separates.
To the frying pan, add the remaining coconut cream and water and let it come to a boil. Add in the fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, chillies, palm sugar and chicken powder.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add in the pumpkin. Cover the pan for 5 to 6 minutes or until the pumpkin has softened. Add in the prawns then cover for another 2 to 4 minutes, depending on how big the prawns are. Once the prawns are orange or are no longer semi-translucent, they’re done.
Remove from the heat and add in the lime juice. Have a taste, and if needed, add more salt, sugar, lime juice, and chillies to your liking. Optional – stir in some crushed nuts and sprinkle more on top of the curry.
Leftovers – Allow the curry to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer into a sealed container and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Prawn and Pumpkin Curry (Thai red curry)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 400 ml coconut cream (usually a standard tin)
- 2 tbsp red curry paste (Thai) (NOTE 1)
- 1 cup water (room temperature)
- 3 tsp fish sauce (NOTE 2)
- 4 kaffir lime leaves (rolled up & sliced very thinly) (NOTE 3)
- 1-2 small red chillies (or less/omit to taste)
- 1½ tbsp palm sugar (grated or swap with brown sugar) (NOTE 4)
- 1 tsp chicken powder (or chicken stock powder) (NOTE 5)
- 300 gm pumpkin (chopped roughly into cubes) (NOTE 6)
- 350 gm large raw peeled prawns (NOTE 7)
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Optional
- 2 tbsp unsalted roasted peanuts (crushed)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Scoop the fat that has settled on top of the coconut cream and add it into the pan along with the curry paste. Stir-fry the curry mixture for 5 minutes or until the oil separates.
- To the frying pan, add the remaining coconut cream and water and let it come to a boil. Add in the fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, chillies, palm sugar and chicken powder.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add in the pumpkin. Cover the pan for 5 to 6 minutes or until the pumpkin has softened. Add in the prawns then cover for another 2 to 4 minutes, depending on how big the prawns are. Once the prawns are orange or are no longer semi-translucent, they're done. Remove from the heat and add in the lime juice. Have a taste, and if needed, add more salt, sugar, lime juice, and chillies to your liking. Optional – stir in some crushed nuts and sprinkle more on top of the curry.
