Ram’s kundru pumpkin curry

This curry is made with an interesting vegetable called kundru, it looks like a cucumber but unlike it's fresh, crunchy cousin this one gets cooked into curries and savoury dishes.

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 ½ tbsp red curry paste
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 350 g pumpkin or butternut squash, skin and seeds removed cut into 2 cm pieces
• 1 large eggplant, cut into 2 -3 cm pieces
• 6 snake beans, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 100 g kundru, cut into 2 cm chunks
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 400 g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 270 ml coconut milk
• Naan bread and coarsely chopped coriander, to serve

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the chilli and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the curry paste and cook until fragrant. If at any stage the pan gets too hot, add a splash of water to bring the temperature down.

2. Add the ginger, pumpkin, eggplant and snake beans and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the kundru, curry leaves, chickpeas and coconut milk. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, but still have bite.

Serve in warmed bowls scattered with chopped coriander and a few slices of naan bread on the side to mop up the delicious sauce.

Note:

Native to the Indian subcontinent, kundru is also known as Ivy gourd, tindora and tendali. Grown as a tropical vegetable, kundru look like small cucumbers and both the fruit and the leaves are edible.  

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.