Creamy Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Curry
- Savory
- Indian
- Creamy
- Stovetop
- Oven
A thick, gently spiced one-pot simmer where butternut squash turns tender and red lentils melt into a creamy coconut sauce. Warm, comforting and not spicy.
- Total
- 54 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 39
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Sweating · Blooming spices
Instructions
-
Peel the butternut squash, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into 2 cm cubes. Peel the onion and chop it finely. Peel the ginger and grate it.
~12 min
Cut the butternut squash into even 2 cm cubes so the pieces finish cooking at the same time as the lentils soften.
-
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes.
~6 min
Cooking the onion until lightly golden develops sweetness and a deeper flavour base through gentle caramelisation.
Sweating Cook the onion over medium heat until soft and translucent without browning too much; stir often and lower the heat if it starts to catch.
-
Add the grated ginger and curry powder to the pot and stir constantly for 45 seconds, until the powder darkens slightly and smells toasty. Do not let it burn.
~1 min
Briefly frying the spices in hot oil blooms their fat-soluble aromas, making the curry taste fuller and more fragrant.
Blooming spices Fry ground spices in oil for under a minute until fragrant and slightly darkened; remove from heat immediately if they smell acrid to avoid bitterness.
-
Add the butternut squash cubes and stir to coat in the spiced oil. Pour in 500 ml water and the coconut milk, then add the red lentils, 1 tsp salt and the black pepper. Stir well.
~3 min
-
Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover partly and cook, stirring now and then so the lentils do not stick, until the squash is tender and the lentils have broken down into a thick sauce, 25 to 30 minutes.
~30 min
A gentle simmer lets the lentils soften and release starch without scorching, while partial covering reduces evaporation so the sauce thickens evenly.
Stir the pot every few minutes near the end: red lentils sink and catch on the base, and one scorched patch will taste bitter through the whole dish.
-
Taste and adjust the salt. The sauce should be thick enough to hold a spoon; if it is loose, simmer uncovered for a few more minutes. Serve hot.
~2 min
Simmering uncovered allows excess water to evaporate, concentrating the sauce so it clings to the spoon and tastes richer.
