Savory Pumpkin in Thai Red Coconut Curry – Paleo, Gluten Free and Sugar Free


Homemade Paleo Pumpkin Curry recipe results - made with Paleo red curry paste one of my favorite Paleo Thai food recipes.

Just like in the Thai restaurant! This Paleo Pumpkin curry uses homemade Red Curry Paste to create a Thai Red Paleo coconut curry sauce. Rich, fragrant and filling with no absolutely added sugar, it makes a healthy and delicious meal.

One of our favorite ingredients is Japanese pumpkin. The Japanese Pumpkin, or Kabocha, has a delicious sweet flavor, similar to standard pumpkins, but with a consistency reminiscent of butternut squash. I would say for many applications it is the best of both worlds.

Japanese Pumpkin, cubed - This is a great Paleo Kabocha recipe option, if you are looking for recipes for Japanese Pumpkin, look no further than this Paleo pumpkin curry
Sliced Japanese Pumpkin

We definitely love to use Japanese pumpkin in dishes where some natural sweetness will go a long way, such as Thai dishes where typically sugar would have been added but we are forgoing it in the name of health and staying Paleo.
Getting Japanese pumpkin in the west is becoming increasingly easy. I’ve seen Kabocha available at many farmers markets, as well as natural food stores such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, among others, typically in the fall.

Paleo Thai Red Coconut Curry with Japanese Pumpkin – from Scratch

Although our recent focus has been on our article series on meal kit and delivery Paleo options with topics like Paleo meal delivery in Columbus OH, Paleo meal delivery in Sacramento CA and Paleo meal delivery in San Antonio TX and other US cities, we also love to share some of our favorite recipes from time to time. This is one of those recipes that we loved!

Getting authentic Thai food once you go Paleo can be a challenge. Many dishes contain sugar outright or if not they include store bought ingredients such as fish sauce brands that are not Paleo and contain sugar.
In this recipe we have created a Paleo version of Thai red coconut curry, using homemade Thai red curry paste with a base of coconut milk. Just like what you would get in a Thai restaurant, but with control over every ingredient that goes in (or doesn’t go in) to the dish!

Ingredients – Paleo Pumpkin Curry

  • Japanese Pumpkin, One, Medium, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • Thai Basil Leaves, 1/4 Cup
  • Coconut Milk (look for one with no preservatives, additives or gums)
  • Yellow Onion, One, Medium
  • Garlic, 6 Whole Cloves
  • Coconut Oil
  • Red Boat Fish Sauce (Paleo – has no sugar or other additives), 3 tbsp
  • Thai Red Chilies (Optional)
  • Salt

Steps for creating the Thai Coconut Curry:

Saute whole garlic cloves and yellow onions in a Paleo friendly cooking oil, such as coconut oil or avocado oil (olive oil could be used in a pinch)

Onions and garlic being sauteed - Paleo Red Curry recipe one of the recipes in our Thai food Paleo repetoire
Initially, saute the onions and garlic in a large stew pot

Assembling the Paleo coconut curry sauce

Add in the homemade Red curry paste, and continue to saute for two minutes with the onions:

adding the curry paste - Paleo Coconut Thai red Curry Recipe
Add the homemade curry paste

Next add in coconut milk Paleo Friendly coconut milk and stir it into the curry mixture. We used an Organic Aroy-D here but Trader Joe’s also sells an Organic coconut milk that contains only organic coconut and water.

Adding the coconut milk - Paleo Curry, Thai Style (Red Coconut Curry) - Paleo Thai red curry recipe
Next add the coconut milk

Next add the Red Boat Fish sauce.

Adding the fish sauce to the red curry gluten free - Paleo Coconut Curry with Red Chillies
Add the Red Boat Fish Sauce

Cook an additional 10 minutes to allow the flavors to fuze:

Simmering Pot of coconut Paleo Thai Curry made from Scratch (sugar free red curry)
Let simmer until the flavors blend

Adding in the Japanese Pumpkin

Next add the cut pieces of Japanese Pumpkin and give them a chance to soften:

Adding Japanese Pumpkin to Sugar Free Thai Red Curry (homemade from scratch)
Adding the Japanese Pumpkin

Once the Japanese pumpkin is just about soft enough to eat, add in the Thai Basil:

Adding Thai Basil to the Gluten Free Thai Red Curry with Coconut Milk (Paleo red curry recipe)
Add the Thai Basil

Finally ladle into a big bowl and serve hot.  The curry keeps and freezes well, so feel free to make a big batch. The flavors tend to fuze together over time like a stew, improving each day.

Once kabocha is soft, season and eat - your Paleo pumpkin curry is ready
Once the pumpkin pieces are fully soft, just season to taste

Note: if it seems like a lot of work making the curry (and potentially curry paste as listed below from scratch) some of the companies we cover in our Paleo delivery article offer Thai style curry dishes that they will deliver strait to your door – for example I know Paleo on the go offers an AIP Pineapple Curry over cilantro lime rice

Paleo Red Curry Paste Recipe – Thai Style and Homemade

A recipe for homemade Thai Red Curry Paste that is Paleo, Gluten Free, Sugar Free and Preservative/additive Free
Paleo Thai Red Curry Paste Recipe – Homemade

Many if not all of the canned Thai curry pastes available contain sugar, preservatives or both. This is a shame because Thai curries are delicious! Luckily making Paleo curry paste yourself from scratch is easily as good or better than the store bought kind!
Here are the steps we used. Note this curry paste is great for dishes such as the coconut curry above, Thai soups such as Paleo Thom Kha Hed (Paleo coconut curry soup), or even added to plain Cauliflower rice to spice it up and give some flavor.

Ingredients

  • Dried Anaheim Peppers/California Chile’s (3 oz)
  • Dried Cumin, 1/2 tablespoon
  • Dried Coriander, 1 tablespoon
  • White Peppercorn, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cilantro Stems, 1 tablespoon or to taste
  • Garlic, 1/4 cup
  • Lemongrass, sliced 3-4 tablespoons
  • Fresh Lime Juice to taste or optionally Kaffir Lime Zest, 1 tablespoon
  • Galangal (optional), 1.5 Tablespoons

Slice up the Anaheim Peppers or “California Chile’s” in a bowl, and soak them for 20 minutes or until they are fairly soft.

Anaheim Peppers uses as the main ingredient in this Thai red curry paste gluten free
Soak Anaheim Peppers, Chopped and deseeded

If you have a mortar and pestle set available, I’d recommend grinding the spices into powder to make a spice blend. However if you don’t have one handy, you can just throw everything into a food processor and have it do the work for you (albeit not as thoroughly).

Grinding the Spices, Paleo Thai Curry Paste
Optional, grind spices into a powder

The last step is adding all of the ingredients into a food processor and processing until it forms a smooth paste.

Using the food processor to mix everything into a paste - Thai red curry no sugar
Use a food processor to combine into a paste

The final curry paste can be used either refrigerated or frozen. We’ve been using our frozen and scraping out spoonfuls as needed for different dishes.

The finished product, stored in Tupperware - Paleo Thai Curry Recipe
The result is delicious, fragrant, Thai Red Curry Paste

Finally, putting it all together, Paleo Pumpkin Curry in Thai Paleo Coconut Curry Sauce.
full_size_paleo-pumpkin-curry-in-paleo-coconut-curry-sauce_made_from_homemade_paleo_red_curry_paste

zach

My goal with this website is to help get the message out about grain free diets such as the Paleo and Primal diets, SCD diet and GAPS diet, so that more people might benefit from them. My other main goal is to help everyone transitioning to these diets, which can be challenging when first starting down this path. It definitely was for me.

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