Fragrant squash curry with chickpeas, ginger, spices and coconut milk
Serves: 6, plus 2 leftover portions
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (1.2kg)
Olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
4cm piece of ginger
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon medium curry powder
300g ripe cherry tomatoes
2 tinned pineapple rings in juice
1 x 400ml tin of light coconut milk
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
Optional: 2 sprigs of coriander, to serve
Get ahead: You can make this on the day, if you prefer. Preheat the oven to 180C. Scrub the squash (there’s no need to peel it), carefully halve it lengthways and deseed, then chop into 2cm chunks. Place in a roasting tray, toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then roast for 1 hour, or until soft and caramelised.
Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onion, peel the garlic and ginger, and dry fry in a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with the coriander and fenugreek seeds and the curry powder, stirring until lightly charred all over. Add the tomatoes and pineapple rings (reserving the juice), and cook for 10 minutes to soften and char, stirring regularly.
Tip it all into a blender, add the coconut milk and blitz until very smooth. Return to the pan, tip in the chickpeas, juice and all, and simmer gently until the sauce is thickened. Stir in the roasted squash, then season the curry to perfection, tasting and tweaking, and loosening with the reserved pineapple juice. Cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.
To serve: Preheat the oven to 150C. Place the covered pan of curry in the oven until hot through – about 1 hour. Nice with picked coriander leaves.
Recipe extracted from ‘Together’ by Jamie Oliver (published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited, £26; photography by David Loftus), available now.
