Butternut Squash Curry
It’s hard to pass up the beautiful squash at the farmers’ market this time of year. I’ve been anxious to use the ones I bought recently, so this is my first squash recipe of the season.
Butternut squash, onion, red pepper.
For four servings, here are the ingredients:
- 1/2 large butternut squash, cleaned of seeds, peeled, and cubed
- 1 medium yellow onion, medium chop
- 1 large red pepper, medium chop
- ghee (or substitute canola or sunflower oil)
- cumin seed
- 1 habanero pepper, finely minced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- powdered ginger
- turmeric powder
- garam masala
- salt
Tip: ave, rinse, and toast the butternut squash seeds just like pumpkin seeds!
Squash, onion, and red pepper, prepared for roasting.
To prepare, toss the squash,onion, and red pepper lightly in canola oil, lay out on a baking sheet, and bake at 375-400° F for 30-45 minutes, until squash is tender, but not completely mushy. Stir these ingredients on the sheet occasionally, to cook evenly.
When the vegetables are nearly done roasting, prepare curry spices in a large pan over moderate heat. Toast cumin seeds in ghee, add turmeric, garam masala, then stir in a paste made of the garlic, ginger, and habanero. Once the turmeric is cooked satisfactorily, stir in the roasted vegetables to coat evenly with these curry seasonings and salt to taste.
Combining the roasted vegetables with curry seasonings.
This dish was served accopanied by raita and rice.
The raita consisted of the following:
- homemade yogurt
- carrot, finely chopped
- red pepper, finely chopped
- scallion, finely chopped
- salt
The basmati rice was prepared in a rice cooker with cumin seed and saffron threads.
My housemate had earlier prepared a nice dal that we served with the meal along with a store-bought naan.
Butternut Squash Curry served with basmati rice, raita, naan, and dal.
All in all, this was a pretty complete meal for a couple of computer science students… and a welcome return of fall/winter vegetables to the table.
Autumn’s early sunsets have been causing me much trouble with photographing dinners. Lots of adjusting color in photos, due to the exclusively artifical light in the house, and I’m still not very happy with it.
Here are some related recipes that I consulted when concocting this meal:
Kitchen Convivial 