For my second recipe in the Susan and Shauna series, I planned to go with the Mango Chicken Curry. But when I was staking out her blog, I found a similar curry with pumpkin replacing the mango.

So in the spirit of the season, I bring you Shauna’s Pumpkin Chicken Curry with Susan’s Substitutions and Shortcuts.

First off, this recipe does not fall in the ‘curry in a hurry’ category. If you think you’re going to whip it up while your kids are watching their Wild Kratts show, you’d be wrong. Just when you have disgusting poultry palms, the young ‘uns will likely ask for show number two. They’ll also want a snack from the top shelf at that exact moment.

But coming back to the pumpkin curry, chop up a whole lotta onions, tomatoes, red peppers, garlic and ginger. Cut up about 2.5 lbs of chicken. Brown the chicken in olive oil and add a tablespoon of curry powder.

Speaking of which, what’s with Indian recipes never ever calling for curry powder? Flip open a Real Simple magazine, though, and there it is in all its glory. I actually bought curry powder to use in recipes written by non-Indians. Is there even a thing called curry powder in India?

Set the chicken aside.

In the same big pan, add some more oil and let the onions sweat it out with the ginger and garlic. Add the chicken back in with the tomatoes, peppers, a cup of raisins, 4 cups of chicken broth and a 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree. You can add more curry powder and some cayenne pepper and salt to taste at this point.

Let it all simmer for about 20 minutes till all the flavors mingle and chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and basil and serve with white rice.

For you scientific types who don’t believe in winging it, Shauna’s recipe is a lot more precise.

Don’t look at me like that. I have generations of curry-making behind my dish. And none of them used curry powder either.