Butternut curry

Rainbow food series – orange

Since challenging myself to get better acquainted with Indian cooking, making the perfect chicken curry and the use of fragrant spices, I have tried out quite a few recipes and really liked them. In fact I would say I am much more confident when whipping up a curry with whatever I have got in my fridge.

I needed to make something orange, and thought I would try out a butter nut squash curry.

Recipe

2 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
1 tsp cardamom pods
1 tbsp whole cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric  powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (goes well with butternut)
1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, finely minced
320 g or 1 small butternut squash, inch cubed
1 orange flesh sweet potato, inch cubed
optional broccoli
1 can of cannellini  beans
1 can of coconut milk

Method
1. Quickly grind the cumin and squeeze the cardamom pods with a knife so that they split. Heat up the ghee (or oil if you are vegan) and lightly fry the spices for about 30 seconds.
2. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Add the butternut and sweet potatoes (broccoli is using). Allow to brown slightly. If you find it too dry, you may add a further tablespoon of oil or ghee.
3. Add the cannellini beans, including juice. A good bean stock never goes to waste. Finally, add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. After 15 minutes, check that all veggies are cooked (they would be). Check seasoning and serve with rice, chapati, roti or your favourite naan bread.

I had mine with rice combined with some yellow and green day samples.