Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry
A wonderful "made from scratch" curry that incorporates your favorite winter squash and features wild mushrooms! A match made in your saucepan!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 10 oz butternut or other winter squash peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1-2 small green chiles such as jalapeño or serrano
- 3 medium shallots or 1 small onion finely diced
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- Handful of fresh or frozen curry leaves optional
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Pinch of ground cayenne
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 lb mushrooms preferably a mix of cultivated and wild, trimmed and sliced ⅛-inch thick
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- Cilantro sprigs for garnish
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small cubes optionall
Instructions
- In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium-high. When hot, add squash cubes in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, letting cubes brown slightly, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to lift squash out, and set aside.
- If using chicken thighs, add to the hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned on all sides. Remove to a plate.
- Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile to open it, but leave whole. (This helps the chiles heat the sauce without making it too spicy.)
- Add shallots, salt lightly and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves, if using, and let sizzle for 30 seconds, then add garlic, coriander, cayenne, turmeric and chiles. Stir well and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Add mushrooms, season with salt and toss to coat. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Return squash cubes and chicken (if using) to skillet, stir in coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium and simmer for another 5 minutes. If mixture looks dry, thin with a little water. Taste and season with salt.
- Before serving, stir in lime juice. Transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with cilantro.
Notes
In this recipe, I added two boneless, skinless chicken thighs because darling hubby wants protein in his meal. You can certainly omit it and it'll still taste wonderful.
Also, I didn't have black mustard seeds on hand, so simply substituted yellow. While I didn't have fresh or frozen curry leaves, I did have dried. I used about 5 curry leaves in this dish and I can strongly recommend this brand if you are looking for them!