Pumpkin with coconut milk

This is a very appetising vegetarian dish with a loose Malaysian influence. It is very rich and goes well with a mixed stir-fried vegetable (Vietnamese style) and rice. This, with one other dish, feeds three to four.

Half a medium sized Asian pumpkin (the type with a hard green skin)
4 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 piece of ginger the size of half a wine bottle cork
1 piece galangle (optional), same size as the ginger
generous pinch of ground cloves
1 stalk lemongrass
2 tablespoons Thai sweet chilli sauce
1 teaspoonful ground cumin
1 teaspoonful coriander powder
1/2 bunch fresh coriander (chopped)
1 can coconut milk
1 tomato
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

Combine garlic, onion, lemongrass (remove hard outer counting and chop finely), galangal in a food processor and blend to a course paste.

Heat some oil in a pan and add ground cumin, coriander and the pinch of cloves and fry lightly for a minute or so. Stir in the mix from the processor and add chilli sauce, cook for two to three minutes. Add the pumpkin, which has been skinned and chopped into large cubes approximately and inch square. Stir and fry for about a minute and add coconut milk and soy sauce. Cover and cook until the pumpkin is nearly soft and stir in the tomato – which should have been grated to a pulp. Continue cooking until pumpkin is fully cooked, but not disintegrating. It’s now ready to serve. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.