I had a take-away meal from an Indian restaurant, The Maharajah, months ago, but I can still remember how surprisingly tasty it was, although it was mostly a butternut roti. In fact, that's all I can remember: tasty indian butternut roti.
So since my husband has declared March "Indian Food Only" month, I took up the challenge to make a similar recreation of that surprising, and tasty meal. And the results were, with a bit of deviation from the recipe: surprisingly tasty to eat three times in a row.
I put a chopped butternut into a big pot and lightly fried it in minimal oil (5min). I added a 300ml chicken stock (recipe says veg stock, but I didn't have- can't taste the difference) and cooked the butternut with the lid on for 20min. I added a teaspoon of grated ginger, 2 of garlic, 1/2tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 2 cloves, 3 star anises, 3 cardamom seeds, 2 small pieces of cinnamon (try get cinnamon rather than cassia if possible- cassia's not healthy), 1 small tin tomotoe puree, 400g canned chickpeas (actually I used dry ones that I saoked and cooked seperatley in a presure cooker for speedy results- it's cheaper) and then 2 chopped tomatoes. You can let that cook for another 10min and take the lid off if you think there is too much liquid for a curry consistency.
Butternut + tomatoes? It's surprising. Never would have invented that flavour combo on my own.
Basically all the spices can be substituted for any curry paste/powder, but I thought I would be authentic and reckless, but it turned out perfectly. If you like it spicy and your curry powder/paste isn't, add 2 chillies chopped up finely.
Serve with wraps (was lazy and got mine from Woolies), coriander (and or cos lettuce), chutney of choice and large dollops of Greek yog(h)urt!
The curry can also be mixed into couscous for a different twist.
Serves 2 fairly skinny people for 2 dinners and one lunch. That's 6 meals, the original recipe only serves four, so maybe butternuts are smaller in the land of BBC.
Here's the original recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775642/indian-butternut-squash-curry
