Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Curry

Thu, 24 October 2019

As it starts to get darker earlier and with a distinct chill in the air, you know Autumn is well on its way so why not try this plant based butternut squash and sweet potato curry, that is rich, sweet and hearty with as much fire as you want packed with chilies and fire roasted tomatoes this hot dish is uncompromising in taste and packs a fiery punch. Of course chillies do vary in heat so it can have a touch of roulette about it.

Ingredients

1 red onion, cut into chunks
2–3 red chillies, stalks removed and roughly chopped 50g/1¾oz fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 to 4 garlic cloves, halved
little finger sized piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and roughly chopped (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt flakes, or to taste
vegetable oil
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
350ml vegetable stock
a couple of punnets of vine ripened tomaotes oven roasted and blackened or 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large bite-sized pieces
1 large butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces as well

served with cauliflower cumin infused rice a handful coriander, roughly chopped and 2 limes, cut into wedges for squeezing over

Method

Put the onion, chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric, ground coriander, cinnamon and salt into a food processor and blend to a paste, or use a stick blender and a bowl or you can just finely chop it all if you want.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wide lidded heavy-based casserole pot and fry the curry paste for about 1 minute, stirring well. if you use a wooden spoon it may get stained by the fresh turmeric.

Shake vigorously and Open the tin of coconut milk stirring everything together over the heat for another minute or so , followed by the stock, tomatoes, then chuck in the sweet potato and squash. Stir well, bring to the bubbble and, once bubbling, turn down the heat, put the lid on and simmer for 40–50 minutes or chuck it onto the oven t 180 for the same time (though start checking at 30) until the sweet potatoes are soft and the squash cooked through. Check for seasoning, then leave to stand off the heat for 10 minutes or so before serving just so its perfect.