With Butternut Squash being such a valuable addition to any diet (see my last blog post here), and a particularly helpful food for the anti-Candida diet, I find ways to include it in a variety of meals. This recipe for a meat-free curry gains both flavour and texture from chunks of butternut squash simmered in coconut milk. We need to avoid hot spices if working to support gut ecology, so use a simple mix of mild spices to gain depth of flavour and warmth. If you are cooking for people who don’t have a problem with candida, put a chilli grinder on the table and they can use it to add more heat if they like!
Butternut Squash Curry
Ingredients – to serve 4
- 4 cups of diced butternut squash (one cup per person)
- 3 onions – peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 red peppers – roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic- peeled and crushed
- 1 cm of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon of nigella seeds (black onion seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons of ground coriander seed
- 100g of creamed coconut – chopped
- 450 ml of water
- 1 cup of ground sunflower seeds
Method
- Place the nigella seeds and cumin seeds in a large pan over a medium heat, and cook for one minute, stirring all the time
- Add the onions, peppers and the olive oil, and cook until beginning to soften, stirring regularly.
- Stir in the crushed garlic and grated ginger and stir for one minute.
- Add in the ground spices, and stir for a further minute, before adding in the butternut squash
- Pour into the pan the water and then stir in the creamed coconut.
- Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes
- Stir in the ground sunflower seeds and cook for a further 5 minutes, until butternut squash is tender.
Serve in bowls over cauliflower and courgette rice, or wholegrain basmati rice.
Try the sunflower seed pancake recipe as a chapati replacement.
