As clickbait-y as that headline may be, it’s a serious question — how did the exchange of ingredients and methods for preparing them 500 years ago impact the way we eat today?

By some expert accounts, curry did not exist before the chile was brought to the Indian subcontinent. Isn’t that wild? Before the Columbian exchange, there was no potato for the aloo gobi, no tomato for the tikka masala. Cooks in the Indian subcontinent obviously had their own spices to work with, but before the chile arrived in the early 16th century, the end result just wasn’t curry.

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Mole could never have existed without chiles, either, but chiles originated in the New World, so Mesoamericans had a few thousand years’ head start on the assignment. Numerous types of mole were already in the Aztec culinary arsenal before European colonizers began taking notes (among the myriad other things they took while they were at it).

Once chiles made it to Goa, India, it didn’t take long for chiles — and curry — to spread to Southeast Asia. Other American crops like potatoes, tomatoes and pumpkins would become staple ingredients in India and Thailand, but chiles had a far greater influence on these cuisines.

Anyway, that’s why I thought it’d be cool to try making khaeng phet fakthong (แกงเผ็ดฟักทอง; pumpkin red curry) with mole poblano instead of curry paste. I added a cube of shrimp bouillon in place of fermented shrimp paste and muddled fresh hoja santa (Mexican pepperleaf) and epazote hearken to the fruity, anise-peppery bite of galangal and Thai basil, but otherwise there’s already so much overlap — think of the sharp citrus and lush, aromatic herbs in both Thai and Mexican dishes, along with the warm embrace of onions and garlic, and spices like cinnamon, clove, cumin and coriander seed. The deft balance of heat, fat and bright sourness with a kaleidoscope of aromatics are hallmarks of both cuisines. As far as protein goes, I used tofu, but turkey, duck or chicken would be perfect here. Serves 4-6

Note: You can always use miso or doenjang (or another fermented bean paste) as a vegan substitute for fermented shrimp paste, but vegetarian bouillon would work well here too since we’re really just going for salt and umami. And if you don’t have a giant, bushy hoja santa in your yard (💅), feel free to use galangal or turmeric (preferably fresh).

Ingredients

1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk, divided

¼ to ⅓ cup mole (homemade or store-bought)

1 shrimp bouillon cube

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon coriander seed powder

1 teaspoon cumin seed powder

3 fresh hoja santa leaves

1 small kabocha squash, stemmed, seeded and sliced or cubed (skin-on is fine)

1 handful fresh epazote or Thai basil leaves

½ medium onion, sliced

½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

Cilantro sprigs and steamed rice for serving

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the coconut milk in a large wok or saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the mole in the coconut milk for a minute to wake up the spices, then stir in the rest of the coconut milk. Crumble in the bouillon cube and stir in the pumpkin pie spice, coriander and cumin. Crumple the hoja santa leaves into balls and add them to the pan.
2. Add the sliced kabocha squash and onions and enough water that the vegetables are just submerged. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the squash is almost cooked through (test by poking the tip of a knife into a piece — you want a little bit of resistance), about 15 minutes, then add the epazote, onion and bell pepper. Simmer until the onion and peppers are tender-crisp, another 5-7 minutes or so, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Top with cilantro and serve with rice.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/09/25/superabundant-recipe-mexican-thai-red-curry-mole/