Squash, chickpea & coconut curry
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Squash, chickpea & coconut curry

By Rosie Birkett

Cook up this vibrant vegan curry that makes the most of autumnal squash. It's ideal for a meat-free Monday dinner when served with flatbreads

  • Prep:25 mins
    Cook:1 hrs
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 484
  • fat 33g
  • saturates 26g
  • carbs 31g
  • sugars 12g
  • fibre 10g
  • protein 11g
  • salt 0.1g

Ingredients

  • 1 kabocha, red kuri, crown prince or butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, cut into 2cm-thick slices
  • 3 tbsp coconut or rapeseed oil
  • 5 tbsp tamarind sauce
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp dried or fresh curry leaves
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 green chilli, sliced
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, lightly bashed
  • 400g can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 large tomato, sliced
  • 1 tbsp roasted curry powder (see recipe, right)
  • 1 tsp turmeric, freshly grated if possible, or use 1 tsp ground
  • 400ml can coconut milk
  • 3 large handfuls of kale
  • small bunch of coriander, leaves picked
  • 2 tbsp toasted coconut flakes (optional)
  • flatbreads, to serve
  • 10g basmati rice
  • 20g coriander seeds
  • 15g cumin seeds
  • 10g black peppercorns
  • 5g fenugreek seeds
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • ½ tsp green cardamom pods, seeds only

Tip

Leftover curry powder
You can use the leftover curry powder in other veggie curries, stir it through yogurt for use as a marinade, or mix with olive oil and toss with veg before roasting.Use up leftover curry
Chop some squash and mix it through any leftover curry. Tip the mixture into pie dishes, then cover with puff pastry to fit the top of each dish. Brush the pies with beaten egg yolk, then bake at 220C/200C fan/gas 8 for 20 mins until golden and puffed up.

Method

  1. For the curry powder, heat a small frying pan over a medium heat and toast the rice, stirring, until it starts to brown. Tip in the rest of the spices and toast for 3-5 mins until brown but not burned. Using a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, blitz or grind to a fine powder. Pass through a sieve. Will keep for up to three months in an airtight container.

  2. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the squash with 1 tbsp of the oil, a pinch of salt, 3 tbsp of the tamarind sauce, the chilli flakes and coconut. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 mins, or until tender.

  3. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a wok over a high heat. Fry the mustard seeds for a minute or so until they sizzle and pop, then add the curry leaves and cook for a few more seconds until they crackle. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, chilli, lemongrass and a pinch of salt and stir for a few minutes until the onion softens. Tip in the chickpeas, tomato, curry powder and turmeric and keep stirring for 5-8 mins, until the tomato breaks down.

  4. Pour the coconut milk into the wok and stir, cooking for about 5 mins until slightly reduced. Add the remaining 2 tbsp tamarind, taste for seasoning, then add the kale, stirring for a couple of minutes until softened. Divide the squash between bowls, ladle in the curry sauce, then top with the coriander and coconut flakes, if using. Serve with warmed flatbreads.

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