Nisha Katona's butternut squash & spinach curry
Nisha is back with the perfect midweek meal - her auntie’s famous vegetable curry. A popular Indian dish, Nisha uses butternut squash, sweet potato and spinach to create a tasty dinner in under 10 minutes.
Nisha Katona's butternut squash & spinach curry
Serves 2
Ingredients
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp asafoetida powder
1 small butternut squash, unpeeled chopped into 2cm piece, seeds removed and steamed to just soft
1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces, and steamed to just soft
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt to taste
2 tsp brown sugar
Handful of roasted cashew nuts
1 small bag baby leaf spinach, roughly chopped or a cup of frozen spinach
Juice of half a large lemon
Sprig of coriander
1 tsp of pomegranate seeds, for garnish
To serve, optional
Flatbread wrap
Rice
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large work style pan. Add the mustard seeds and fry on a high heat until they completely pop and go grey - turn the heat to medium and quickly add the fenugreek seeds and fry gently. Be careful not to let the fenugreek seeds go too dark brown otherwise they become very bitter. They need to go a nice golden brown and fizz. Once they do that add the teaspoon of asafoetida and fry for about eight seconds.
2. Now add the butternut squash, the potatoes, the turmeric, the chilli, the salt and the sugar. Stir briskly and combine well. Add 3 tbsp water to help combine the ingredients - sizzle on a medium high heat and now add the cashew nuts and spinach. Stir well, don’t mash it but make sure it doesn’t stick.
3. Squeeze over the lemon and stir through. It’s fine if it’s a little bit mushy with some structure. You want it so you could mash it with your fingers!
4. Garnish with a couple of coriander leaves and a few pomegranate seeds
5. Serve in a flatbread wrap or with rice. It’s amazing as a toasted sandwich filler or pasty or pie filling if you feel adventurous!