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Prawn and Pumpkin Curry

Prawn and Pumpkin Curry (Thai red curry)

Catalina T
This no-fuss one pan Thai inspired Prawn and Pumpkin Curry is beautifully creamy, spicy and flavourful. The way red curries should be!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 480 kcal

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.
    making the curry
  • 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.
    Prawn and Pumpkin Curry
  • 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.
    Prawn and Pumpkin Curry

Notes

(NOTE 1) 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.
(NOTE 2) 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.
(NOTE 3) 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)
(NOTE 4) 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.
(NOTE 5) 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.
(NOTE 6) 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.
(NOTE 7) 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.
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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 480kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 17gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 32gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 986mgPotassium: 739mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 7833IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 91mgIron: 3mg