Food as Medicine - Pumpkin Stew Surinam Style

Pumpkin is a delicious 'comfort-food'. It's nourishing and soothing, grounding and very good for your stomach and immune system. This beautiful fruit (yes it's actually a fruit and not a veggie) is a great source of calcium, fibre, iron and zinc and according to Ayurveda it suits all doshas (body types).

 

And that is not the end of this long list of benefits. Pumpkins also calm our minds, soothes irritation and detox the body. We can guarantee you that if you prepare your pumpkin with the following recipe it will definitely give you a super good mood right away, it brought a smile to our faces that just wouldn't go away!

 

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 1 small pumpkin cut into small cubes
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 cm of ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 tbs of honey or maple syrup (vegan)
  • 1 1/2 tbs garam masala spices
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cube of vegetable stock (organic without e-numbers, MSG, and yeast extract)
  • 1 full teaspoon of concentrated tomato paste
  • 3 tbs sunflower oil (or another neutral vegetable oil)
  • 1 cup of water
  • fresh herbs for garnish (like chives, cilantro or spring onion)

Marinade for the tempeh (use a whole block, you can easily keep it in the marinade in your fridge if you do not use it all)

  • 5 tbs of tamari or shoyu (black salty soy sauce)
  • 4 tbs of sesame oil
  • a dash of mirin or rice wine vinegar (without sugar)
  • 2 tbs of honey or maple syrup
  • 1 small dry red chilli finely chopped

 

Preparation

Prep: 20/30 minutes
Total:
may take up to 1,5 hours (slow food)

1. Cut the tempeh in slices off about half a centimeter and in even smaller pieces if you like. Let them marinate for at least half an hour.

2. Wash your pumpkin, it it is organic (yes, please) you do not need to peel it. Remove the seeds and cut it into small cubes.

3. Stir fry the ginger and garlic with a pinch of salt and black pepper in the oil and after a minute (keep stirring) add the onion and allow to become golden (about five minutes on medium heat).

4. Add the tomato paste, stir and add the Garam Masala, gently fry for another 3 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally on medium heat, burnt onion or garlic doesn't taste good at all! This process will allow the aromas of the spices to come alive.

5. Finally add the pumpkin, a cup of water, the honey/maple syrup and the vegetable stock and cover with a lid. Let it gently simmer for about 15 minutes.

6. After 15 minutes with a fork squash the pumpkin a bit and then leave to simmer for another 30 minutes, if necessary add some more water, but it should not be a watery sauce.

7. When the sauce is nearly done, fry your tempeh in a neutral vegetable oil for a few minutes on each side.

8. Serve with whole grain rice, quinoa, buckwheat or millet, whatever you prefer. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Enjoy and please let us know what happened to your face when you took the first bite 🙂