Pumpkin Curry Stew

This recipe is excellent when Halloween is on a particularly brisk and windy day. Serve over white rice, or better yet, yellow to make it even all the more merry. Be sure the ingredients are ready to go as one step falls into the next.

• 1 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
• 1-1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1-1/2 - 2 lb. pumpkin, cubed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• A shake or two or three of red pepper flakes
• 1-1/2 cup stock, preferably vegetable,(you can use water)
• 1 can chickpeas, small or large
• a plantain
• fresh cilantro to taste
• sea salt to taste

Sauté onion in oil for about four minutes. Add garlic and sauté for one more minute. Add ginger and curry powder and sauté for yet another minute. Add pumpkin and toss until well coated with oil. Brown the pumpkin over a high heat. Add tomatoes, cinnamon and stock, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add chick peas, plantain, and cilantro . Cook for about 15 minutes more until desired tenderness of pumpkin and plantain. Serves 5-6, it can be stretched with the rice.