Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 medium onion, peeled & roughly chopped
• 500g of other in-season vegetables, such as runner beans, brocolli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, late-season courgettes
• 1 tin coconut milk (or 1/2frac12; block of creamed coconut, dissolved in 300ml warm water
• 1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 inch piece of fresh lemongrass (optional
• 1 fresh chilli (or dried equivalent
• ½ teaspoon ground tumeric
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• juice of 1 lime (optional
• 30 ml oil (e.g. olive oil, sunflower, sesame oil

Method

1. To make the curry paste: put the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass (if using, chilli, tumeric, salt, lime juice (if using) and olive oil in a blender and puree until a smooth paste.
   
   
2. Peel the squash with a potato peeler. Chop off the stalk and flower end. Chop in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Chop into 1/2 inch cubes.
   
   
3. Prepare the other vegetables by washing and chopping into quick-to-cook chunks.
   
   
4. Put the paste into a large pan or wok and fry gently, stirring, for 2 minutes.
   
   
5. Add the vegetables and stir, to coat them with the paste.
   
   
6. Add the coconut milk and mix well.
   
   
7. Cook gently, uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened. Stir occasionally, to prevent burning and uneven cooking. Add more water if the sauce gets too dry, before the vegetables are cooked.
   

Time From Cupboard-To-Table

Notes & Variations on Thai Style Squash Curry

Make sure you have removed all the pips before cooking, or these can make the squash taste bitter.

The lime juice and lemongrass give this a more authentic flavour, but we often don't have either in stock, and it still tastes great without them.

For a sweeter version, add a handful of raisins, as we did in the test.

For a meaty variant, try adding chopped chicken breast before the vegetables. Or you could use roughly chopped fish fillets.

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