Butternut Squash Curry

Make this Butternut Squash Curry for a delicious, hearty and comforting vegetarian meal. Diced butternut squash is cooked in an aromatic curry & lastly finished with garlic butter sauteed spinach. This curry is delicately spiced, with a touch of ground aromatic spices and fresh herbs for the classic flavors. Serve it over steamed Basmati Rice, flavored or seasoned rice or with flatbreads like Chapati, Tandoori Roti, Plain Parathas, Naan or bhakri.

About Butternut Squash Curry

This Butternut Squash Curry is gluten-free and can be made vegan if you replace the butter with oil. Like many other curries, this dish is made with pantry staples like onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic and garam masala.

To infuse another layer of flavors we optionally use cinnamon stick and curry leaves which complement the sweeter tones of the butternut squash.

To begin with we make a onion tomato masala and later simmer diced butternut squash and Black eyed peas together with a plant based milk (coconut/cashew milk/almond milk). You can instead use plain water to substitute plant milk & that’s how a lot of our everyday Indian curries are prepared.

This Butternut Squash Curry is inspired from several traditional South Indian pumpkin and black eyed peas curry and stew recipes. A lot of people also add amaranth leaves, while some use milk at the finishing stage and some use tamarind & jaggery for a sweet sour stew.

To keep the recipe simple, you may leave out the black eyed peas, spinach, curry leaves, cinnamon and plant based milk mentioned in the recipe. The curry still turns out delicious. Black eyed peas can also be replaced with chickpeas (white/black) or any other prepared/canned beans of choice.

Step by step Instructions

Preparation

1. Prepare the following ingredients:

  • 1 cup onion fine chopped (130 grams, 1 medium) 
  • 1 cup tomatoes (pureed or chopped or crushed)(200 grams, 2 medium) 
  • 1 tablespoon ginger (peeled & minced)
  • 1 tablespoon garlic (peeled & minced)
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves (pat dry, you may leave out)

2. You will also need

  • 700 grams (1.5 pounds) butternut squash (4 cups peeled & diced to 1 inch)
  • 4 cups baby spinach (2 cups after chopping, optional)
  • 1 cup black eyed peas (optional or chickpeas/ beans of choice (boiled /canned))

3. Scoop out the seeds from the butternut squash cavity. Peel, slice and dice to 1 inch cubes. I use a large knife to peel it. You can also use a peeler if you want.

4. Gather the spices:

  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or paprika)
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 to 1½ teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • 2 inch cinnamon piece (optional)

5. You will either use water or ¾ cup coconut milk (or 18 cashews or 3 tbsps almond flour or 1½ tbsps almond/cashew butter pureed with ¼ cup water. Mix another half cup water)

Make Butternut Squash Curry

6. Heat 2 tablespoons oil on a low to medium flame. Add the Cinnamon stick and curry leaves.

7. Immediately add onions and saute until lightly golden for 5 mins. Then add the ginger garlic and saute for 1 minute.

8. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the ground spices and salt.

9. Add the tomatoes – chopped/pureed or crushed.

10. Stir and increase the heat to medium. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes lose the raw flavor, for 3 to 4 minutes.

11. Stir in the diced butternut squash.

12. Pour ½ cup water and plant milk. If you don’t use the beans, cut down the quantity of water.

13. Add the boiled black eyed peas/chickpeas. Before adding the beans make sure they are soft cooked, yet hold their shape and not mushy. If using canned beans, drain the liquid, rinse them well with cold water and add here. To test if they are ready to go into the curry, press down with your finger, they should get mashed well. Mix well and cook covered until the squash is tender. During this process, I had to pour ¼ cup more hot water.

Saute Spinach

You can also leave out this step and add the spinach directly to the curry but the flavor of butter sauteed spinach is amazing in the dish. There is a huge difference between the two.

14. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet, add 2 medium sliced garlic cloves. Fry for a minute on a medium heat. Add spinach (4 cups, 2 cups after chopping).

15. Saute on a medium heat until wilted, for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the heat.

16. When the butternut squash is fork tender, add the sauteed spinach. Turn off the heat.

17. The curry is thick at this stage and it turns even more thicker after cooling down a bit. But if it is runny, you may mash some of the pieces. Taste test and add more salt if required.

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