I love curries.  Love, love, love.   I love them even more now that I’m a bit more familiar with the cooking techniques and spices that are considered basic.  Anjum Anand had an Indian Food Made Easy series on BBC that was really a great intro to the genre.  You can find it on the Cooking Channel now, which to be honest isn’t really my cup of tea, save for series like hers. 

Tonight, I did a take on her Bengali Butternut Squash recipe, only with the last winter squash we picked up at Rennick’s a few weekends ago.  It was a turban squash that I probably, in hindsight, should have roasted.  Fortunately, Hades was the one that wielded the knife and not me.  And score! no trip to the hospital.  I really recommend this be done with a more manageable squash like a butternut or acorn.  Really.  Your local emergency room will thank you.

A Chelsea Girl’s Curry

2 T vegetable oil

1 bay leaf

½ tsp panch phoran (a blend of equal quantities of fenugreek, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, cumin and mustard seeds), available from Asian supermarkets, also known as Bengali five-spice

Pinch of dried red pepper flakes

1 small onion, chopped

½ t ground turmeric

2 t ground cumin

1 heaping t ground coriander

salt and sugar, to taste

2 t ground or grated  fresh ginger

1 lb butternut or acorn squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 c boiling water

1 c chickpeas (I used dried chickpeas that I soaked and cooked in salted water, but use canned if you like, taking care to drain and rinse if you do)

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add the bay, panch phoran and pepper flakes and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring well to combine.  Add the onion, stirring to coat, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft.   Add the ground turmeric, cumin and coriander, the salt, sugar and ginger paste and stir well. Add a splash of the boiling water, stir and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the squash, chickpeas and boiling water.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender.  Taste for seasoning.