Sour pumpkin curry
/Hello my loves,
Last week I alluded to a sour pumpkin curry that I'm completely obsessed with right now, and this week I'm sharing the recipe with you. Pumpkins are of course synonymous with autumn - so synonymous in fact that this is the second week in a row that I'm waxing lyrical about them! But in my book they deserve to have every honour possible bestowed on them - they're the hefty stars of the autumn harvest, and their sweet flesh lends itself to all manner of delicious applications.
My gorgeous pumpkin curry is sour, sweet and spicy. Softly roasted, sweet seasonal pumpkins are given a nice little kick with a snazzy spice mix, and a good old lip-smack from some sticky, sour tamarind. Tamarind comes from the pod-like fruit of a tree that's native to Africa, but it's used throughout the world to add a tangy zing to everything from curries to stir fries to delicious refreshing drinks. I visited Cuba a couple of years ago, and Diany, one of our beautiful hosts, made an unbelievably scrumptious tamarind water that I poured down my throat every afternoon to rehydrate - it was incredibly hot when we were there, and the sour coolness of the tamarind drink she made was pretty much the only thing that could revive me by 3pm. She also helpfully provided comfy Cuban rocking chairs and a window with a faint breeze, and every time I use tamarind now I remember her, and how unbelievably welcoming and kind she was.
What can I say - there's just something about the salty/sweet/sour combo of this pumpkin curry that's really feeding me right now. I've been serving it with a spiced rice, but it would be just as delicious with plain rice, roti, naan bread, or any other accompaniment your heart desires. You'll find the recipe here.
If there was ever a time for cocooning, it's autumn. Coolness is creeping in and there's no better time to nuzzle down into the duvet and have a good old think. 2020 is of course playing out to be the ULTIMATE year for cocooning, with all of us sent back to our chrysalises to contemplate and navigate the various constructs of our lives. If you've been struggling with how to approach this, feeling restless or trapped or at a loose end perhaps, the wonderful Prema Sheerin is running an online teaching to help you reframe this as a time to deepen your relationship with yourself. It's called Into the chrysalis: a time to befriend ourselves, it starts on May 18th, and you can find out all about it here.
So my loves, I wish you a beautiful autumnal weekend, full of snuggling and cosiness and deliciousness and rest. I have NOT ONE SINGLE PLAN this weekend, not one at all, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the two crisp and lovely days will unfold for me. Until next week my darlings 💛.
Love, Rachel xxx
