Thai Butternut Squash Red Curry (vg)

This versatile vegan curry, with its aromatic and fragrant flavours will delight and surprise all the family. Handily, you can substitute the squash for any leftover vegetables you have to hand. Once you’ve made the curry sauce itself, you can add chicken or prawns for the meat and fish eaters in the family.

Having all the ingredients prepped and ready to go beforehand, makes this a quick and simple recipe to cook and ready for the table in less than an hour.

The garnishes add another layer of texture and freshness to the dish. This is a fragrant flavoursome curry, not too spicy, but with the addition of fresh red chillies as a topping, it’ll give it an extra hot kick for any spicy food lovers in the family.

Happy Cooking

N x

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Ingredients

Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 15-20 mins | Cooking time: 40 mins

(Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to two days, can be frozen for up to 1 month.)

• 500g butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks or use frozen

• 2 shallots finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• Thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and grated

• 1 fresh lemongrass stalk, peeled and trimmed, inner stalk finely chopped

• 6-8 Kaffir lime leaves (remove before serving)

• 1 fresh lime, juice only

• 250ml vegetable bouillon stock

• 250ml tomato passata

• 8-10 fresh cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 80g sugar snap peas, quartered, few extra for garnish

• 250g or a big handful of fresh spinach leaves

• 400g tinned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (juice can be kept for use in other recipes)

• 400g tinned full-fat coconut milk

• 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil or rapeseed oil

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp hot chilli powder

• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

• 1tsp ground coriander

• 1-4 tsp ground cardamom

• 1 tsp ground paprika

• big handful fresh coriander stems finely chopped and leaves

• 1 tbsp tamari or light soy sauce

Garnish (optional)

• Handful of fresh beansprouts

• 2 spring onions, finely sliced

• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced seeds in (optional)

• 2-3 sugar snap peas finely sliced

Serve with sticky jasmine rice

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 Method

Parboil the butternut squash for 8-10 minutes if using fresh and drain. (No need to parboil If using frozen).

Add the coconut oil to a large pan and fry the shallots over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger, green chilli, chopped coriander stalks, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Cook for a further minute then add all the ground spices and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

Next add the butternut squash to the pan with the passata, coconut milk vegetable stock and chickpeas and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and leave to cook until the butternut squash is cooked through.

Once the butternut squash is cooked add the spinach, sugar snap peas, fresh cherry tomatoes and half of the chopped coriander leaves, keeping a few back for garnish. Cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Stir through the tamari and lime juice. Season to taste with salt & black pepper.

Once your ready to serve, remove the 6/8 kaffir lime leaves and ladle a portion of the curry over a serving of sticky jasmine rice.

Top with a garnish of crunchy beansprouts, finely sliced sugar snap peas, spring onions, fresh coriander and red chillies (optional).

Enjoy

N x