A Recipe Born from Friendship Across Cultures

As part of our 2026 Synod Assembly under the theme Rooted in God’s Story, we are creating a community recipe book — Rooted at the Table. Submit your recipe by Friday, May 1, 2026, and learn more here.

Submitted by Tina Mills (Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, East Mesa & Gold Canyon)

This Thai pumpkin curry tells a story of friendship, cultural exchange, and shared faith.

While serving as an ELCA missionary in Japan, Tina met Nithaya. Through cooking together, they built a deep relationship—sharing both recipes and spiritual practices.

This dish represents more than food—it reflects the ways relationships shape our faith and understanding.

Nithaya's Thai Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp neutral cooking oil

  • 1-2 Tbsp red curry paste depending on taste and spice preference

  • 2 lbs. cubed chicken thighs or chicken breast

  • 2 cups Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) or other hard squash such as butternut or acorn

  • 1 can coconut milk – shake thoroughly before opening to fully mix

  • 2 cups water

  • ¼ cup fresh Thai Basil rinsed and roughly chopped. Use the basil available to you. If using dried basil 1/2 to 1 tsp is sufficient.

  • Salt and Pepper to taste

  • Steamed Jasmine Rice (or rice of choice) for serving

Instructions

  • Peel and chop squash it into a large dice or chunk. Set aside.

  • Cut chicken into a large dice. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside.

  • Add oil and curry paste to a large heavy bottomed pot.

  • Heat oil and curry paste while stirring until the oil is red and fragrant, usually about 1 minute.

  • Carefully add cut chicken to the oil and curry mixture.

  • Cook on medium to medium-high heat until chicken is browned. Stir occasionally. About 5-7 minutes.

  • Add peeled and cut pumpkin.

  • Stir in coconut milk.

  • Add enough water to cover the pumpkin and chicken. About 2 cups.

  • Bring to a boil on high heat. Lower heat to a simmer and cover.

  • Simmer until squash is tender; about 10-15 minutes.

  • Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  • Add basil before serving.

  • Serve over rice.

Story

In September of 2002 I moved to Japan as a missionary with the ELCA. For the first six months I lived in Tokyo while I was in Language training, but I didn’t know where I would live or what I would do after that.

Luckily, being a missionary in the ELCA means you focus on relationships. So, for the first six months, I built relationships where I could.

One of the people I met at school was Nithaya. Japanese was coming painfully slowly for both of us, but we began to build a friendship. We soon discovered there was one thing we both knew and loved: cooking. Using the ingredients we had available to us in Japan, she taught me how to cook Thai food, and I taught her how to bake pies and quick breads. It was a great match because we both measured and cooked with our hearts more than recipes. (I have tried to correct that in the recipe included!)

As we cooked, we formed a deep friendship. I learned about her growing up in Thailand and her deep Buddhist faith. I shared about growing up in the US and how I had come to learn of the God of love and creation. She taught me the spiritual practices that brought her comfort in uncertainty and chaos. I shared how prayer and Bible study shaped my ability to whether the storms of life.

Our friendship was a little Thai Pumpkin curry, and a little American Apple Pie, but above all, it was deeply rooted in our faith and the reality that we were never alone in the world God created.

Brian FlatgardRooted at the Table, Recipes, 2026 RecipesComment