When Sacramento weather starts shifting away from searing summer heat to crisp autumn temperatures, I naturally start to crave fall foods. In the past, I gravitated towards sweet pumpkin-themed recipes, like these pumpkin spice rice krispies treats or pumpkin rolls. But in recent years, I’ve grown to love using pumpkin in savory dishes even more (see my pumpkin millet porridge and kabocha congee).
In my ongoing quest to use pumpkin in savory recipes, I present you these curry pumpkin waffles. These waffles are easy to throw together, and they’re so flavorful. I like serving the waffles on their own or with a nice fall harvest salad. You can also melt a thin slice of cheese in between two waffles to make a panini-like sandwich!
COOKING NOTES FOR PUMPKIN WAFFLES
USING MOCHIKO & FLOUR SUBSTITUTIONS
To give these pumpkin waffles a chewy texture, I used mochiko, which is a Japanese-style sweet rice flour milled from a sticky variety of short-grain rice. Because the waffles are made with mochiko you can consider them mochi waffles, too.
If you don’t have mochiko, you can use Thai-style glutinous rice flour instead (see photo above). Because glutinous rice flour is a much finer grind, I recommend substituting the flour by weight (160g). The batter will be more runny and the cooked waffles will be slightly chewier.
If all-purpose flour is all you have at home, that’s perfectly fine! I’ve tested a version of this recipe using 1 cup of all-purpose flour (measured by dipping the cup into the bag of flour and leveling off the excess, about 145g). The batter was runnier and the texture of the waffles were softer and more cake-like.
CURRY POWDER
When testing this recipe, I used the Japanese curry powder that I made from Sonoko Sakai’s cookbook Wafu Cooking (affiliate link). You can use any other curry blend that you have around the house. I made one test batch with Diaspora Co’s tandoori masala, and it works well, too.
An important note: The curry powders I used during my test batches had a light level of spice. If your curry powder is on the very spicy side, you might want to consider using less of it in the batter (unless you love spice); 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons should be fine.
ADDING CHEESE TO THE BATTER
I added shredded Asiago cheese in the batter for two reasons. It adds flavor and helps to develop a pleasant, light crust on the exterior of the waffle. In the photo above, you can see how the waffle on the right, made with cheese inside the batter, looks more brown. Both waffles had the same amount of cooking time. If you don’t have Asiago, you can use Parmesan or cheddar instead.
WAFFLE SANDWICH
During my recipe testing, I experimented with melting a thin slice of mozzarella between two cooked waffles and thought it was a fun variation! I used a 1/8-inch thick slice of low-moisture mozzarella, but you can use any kind of cheese you like.
WAFFLE IRON
I own this Cuisinart Belgian waffle maker (affiliate link), which cooks 4 small waffles at a time (each waffle is about 4 inches in diameter). I like this model because the plates are removable, making cleanup much easier.
If you own a different waffle iron, cooking times may vary. I’ve discovered that waffle irons with shallower grooves tend to brown the waffles much quicker. I recommend checking the waffles at the 4-minute mark to see if they have turned golden brown. If they haven’t, cook them a few minutes more.
MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES
Savory Curry Pumpkin Mochi Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 cup (160g) mochiko, (see note 1 for substitutions)
- 2 to 3 teaspoons yellow curry powder, I prefer 3 teaspoons, but see note 2 about different blends
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2/3 cup (165g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canned full-fat coconut milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (or use your oil of choice), plus more for greasing waffle iron
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, (see note 3)
- 1/2 cup (35g) thinly sliced scallions
- 1/3 cup (25g) finely shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mochiko, curry powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, egg, sugar, butter (or oil), and soy sauce. Keep whisking until you get a smooth mixture.
- Add the flours to the wet ingredients. Mix all the ingredients together until everything is well incorporated, and you no longer see any lumps of flour.
- Add the scallions and shredded cheese to the bowl and use a flat spatula to fold them into the batter.
- Preheat your waffle iron to medium heat. Once the waffle iron is ready, brush your waffle plates with butter or oil. Use a large ice cream/cookie scoop to measure out a level portion of batter (this is about 1/3 cup of batter), and transfer it to the waffle iron. My Belgian waffle iron is divided into 4 small quadrants, so I typically make 4 small waffles at a time. If you own a larger, circular waffle iron, you may want to cook 2/3 cup of batter at time and make a larger waffle.
- Close the waffle iron, and cook the waffles for 4 to 5 minutes. Check the waffles for doneness. If they are barely golden brown, continue cooking them for another 2 to 3 minutes. In my waffle iron, I typically cook the waffles for 6 to 7 minutes (in total).
- Remove the cooked waffles and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Grease the plates of the waffle iron again and continue to cook the remaining batter. Transfer the remaining waffles to a cooling rack. Let the waffles cool slightly before serving. They crisp up a little more once they cool.
- Serve the waffles as is, or you can make it a meal by serving them along a side salad.
- Make a Waffle Sandwich: You’ll need 4 thin slices of cheese (about 1/8 inch thick). Low-moisture mozzarella, havarti, or cheddar will work well here. Right when the waffles are done cooking, place a thin slice of mozzarella (or your favorite cheese) on top of a waffle. Place another waffle on top of the cheese and carefully close the waffle iron. You do not need to press down the top of the waffle iron with force. Keep cooking the waffles for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until you can see that the cheese has melted. Use tongs to remove the waffle sandwich. Let it cool for a few minutes before eating.
Notes
- Substitutions for Mochiko: You can use Blue Star’s Mochiko or Bob’s Red Mill’s sweet rice flour for this recipe. If you don’t have either of those, you can use Erawan’s glutinous rice flour (the one that comes in a bag with the green label); use 160g of the flour. The waffles are slightly chewier if you use glutinous rice flour. You can also use all-purpose flour for this recipe. Measure 1 cup of all-purpose flour by volume (about 145g) with the dip-and-sweep method. The resulting waffles will be slightly more cakey in texture.
- Curry Powders: I used Sonoko Sakai’s Japanese-style curry powder blend for most of my test batches. Diaspora Co’s tandoori blend and most yellow curry blends will work well with this recipe. However, if your blend is on the spicy side, you may want to use less than what I specify in the recipe above.
- Soy Sauce: I added soy sauce to the batter to give it more umami flavor. I typically use a light soy sauce (basically the default soy sauce that you see in Chinese kitchens). If you want to make these waffles gluten free, use tamari.
- Greasing Waffle Iron: I prefer using butter or oil to grease the waffle plates instead of cooking spray. Cooking spray tends to leave a sticky film on heated cooking surfaces that becomes difficult to remove over time.
- Reheating Waffles: Refrigerate any leftover waffles in a container. Reheat the waffles in a toaster or bake at 400ºF (250ºC) for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. The waffles are very soft when they come right out of the oven but will firm up a little once they are cooler. Unfortunately, they won’t have the same light crust of freshly made waffles.
Lisa says
Im making these for a crowd next week but may use the solid Japanese curry blocks – ill try to dissolve them in the coconut milk. Let me know if you tried these in recipe development. Ill let you know how it goes!
Lisa Lin says
Hi, Lisa! I haven’t tried Japanese curry block, but I think it can work. I wonder if you need to heat up the coconut milk to dissolve the curry blocks. Let me know how it goes!
Lisa says
I used one square, (1/8th of the pack) it was good. I did gently warm coconut milk to dissolve.
ertyu says
Genius! Savory pumpkin waffles with curry and mochiko for that chewy texture – what a brilliant fall twist! Love that you can make panini-style sandwiches with melted cheese between them too. The detailed notes on flour substitutions are super helpful, especially the warning about spicy curry powders. Definitely trying these with a fall harvest salad!
Alison Miller says
Having a fantatsic and great amazing recipe!
DB says
I love how your taste has evolved over time. Sweet pumpkin recipes are always comforting, but savory dishes really bring out a whole different depth of flavor. It is interesting how seasonal changes can shift not just what we eat but how we enjoy certain ingredients.