Garam Masala Pumpkin Tart Recipe (2024)

I made this for Thanksgiving in 2014, and it has become a family favorite. First time, I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I have found it is better with just the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Also, I make my own garam masala for this recipe: Grind 1 cinnamon stick, 1/4th of a whole nutmeg, a few whole cloves, a few black peppercorns, 1/2 TB of cardamom seeds (not the pods, the black seeds inside the pods), and about 1/4 TB cumin seeds, then toast the ground spices briefly in dry pan. Lovely.

This pie made with the hazelnut crust from David Tanis' Cranberry Curd Tart was pronounced the best pumpkin pie of all Thanksgivings past! It was perfect with the Moroccan flavors dominating our Thanksgiving dinner.

I didn't have the right size or type of pan, so I used a 10" cake pan. I made 2 of the pies at the same time. I have an electric oven. I cooked the filling for 40 minutes but it was not jiggly at all.
What I do know is that I made this last year and it was the best pumpkin pie I've ever made, and that was with a pre-made crust.
This time I took the time to make the crust according to the recipe, and I love the lemon zest in both the crust and in the filling.
Fantastic aroma!

The zest was one lemon too much, and I would cut back on the garam masala as well. The flavor combination was wonderful but could have been more enjoyable if more subtle in flavor.

Haven’t made this, but I have to weigh in, as an Indian. Mix up your own garam masala using dessert friendly spices, or you might end up with fenugreek flavoured pumpkin pie. Most premade GM blends, especially the Indian brands, are heavy on savoury flavours. In this case, I would lean towards chai spices, maybe turmeric, pepper, cumin and fennel as well. As other commenters mentioned, subtlety is key, otherwise you’ll be eating humble (curry) pie.

Absolutely delicious, also cut the sugars, used a ready-made pie crust.

Rave reviews! My friends had a vegetarian Thanksgiving with Indian influences because it’s their favorite kind of food, and this pie went perfectly. Though it would go well with any Thanksgiving dinner. I did as others suggested and mixed up my own Garam masala. And I used the zest of one lime in the crust, and the juice of that same lime in the filling. Delicious. My friend said it was the best pumpkin pie she’d ever had.

I made this last year for Thanksgiving and will be making it again this year with one adjustment. The crust was easy and perfect as is - no changes needed. I always have Penzey's garam masala on hand and I found that the flavor didn't come through enough, so I'll be increasing the spices to 1-1.5 Tbsp. in hopes that the flavor will be a bit more prominent.

I hate pumpkin pie, but you have to have one at Thanksgiving. This recipe was a hit. Everyone loved it.

Trader Joe’s garam masala

Found the lemon too dominant.

Not as comforting as old fashioned pumpkin pie, but definitely an interesting elevation. Lemon and garam masala are a fascinating flavor combo. If I were to make this in the future, I'd skip making my own crust and buy the refrigerated kind at the store. Also, make sure that the crust goes over the sides of the tart pan when blind baking, otherwise it will shrink. If you run out of brown sugar (oops), use white instead.

This recipe was a surprising hit in my house. The flavor was a bit strange at first for a pumpkin tart, nonetheless each slice was consumed. Fresh whipped cream helped to mellow the garam masala flavors but did not mask the flavor at all! Even my non food adventurous 8 year old liked it. Will definitely use this recipe again. Could be an effective secret weapon in a pumpkin pie contest. I pity the judge who doesn’t grant this tart first prize.

I was perusing for pumpkin pie recipes and used this as somewhat of a base of what I had on hand. If you don’t have the Indian spices, swap for traditional pumpkin pie spices (1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground clove, 1/4 freshly grated nutmeg, etc) worked well. I also reduced it to the zest & juice of one lemon. Had amaretto syrup instead of maple syrup. Worked beautifully, lovely texture and taste warm out of the oven and chilled the next day. Can’t wait to try it with Indian spices someday

This didn't work for us. As others suggest, the lemon is strong. I can see the appeal of no cream, but for me the tart lacked the velvety texture of our usual pumpkin pie and tasted more like a savory side dish than a dessert. We loved the garam masala though and will try substituting GM for regular pumpkin pie spices this Thanksgivin (in one pie, at least).

Haven’t made this, but I have to weigh in, as an Indian. Mix up your own garam masala using dessert friendly spices, or you might end up with fenugreek flavoured pumpkin pie. Most premade GM blends, especially the Indian brands, are heavy on savoury flavours. In this case, I would lean towards chai spices, maybe turmeric, pepper, cumin and fennel as well. As other commenters mentioned, subtlety is key, otherwise you’ll be eating humble (curry) pie.

I had such hopes for this, as I was hoping it would prove to be a similar flavor explosion as the Sweet Potato Bebinca. Sadly, we ended up not finishing it. The flavors didn’t sing: there wasn’t a POW factor or focus for your palette; everything was just muddled.

This was a lemon tart with squash - even without the rind, way too much lemon. And the crust did not need all those steps - make dough, cool, place in pan, prick bottom with a fork, immediately add filling, and bake. Crust was the only good part of this tart, and it was fine without multiple steps.

I made this recipe a couple years ago with a lot of excitement and anticipation. But the custard never solidified and remained very runny. Anyone else have this experience or suggestions for preventing this? I'd love to give this another try....

Could you use butternut squash or sweet potato puree instead?