Butternut squash is such a versatile ingredient and it’s very seasonal for this time of the year too! This curry combines butternut squash with one of my favourite ingredients – chickpeas! Plus it packs 3 servings of your five a day into it too – talk about bang for your buck!

Recipe (Serves 5)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely diced
• 1 heaped tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp mild chili powder
• 1 red onion, peeled and diced
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped into bite-size chunks
• 1 medium courgette, stem removed, sliced into coins and coins halved
• 1 butternut squash (remove the skin and seeds, and chop the flesh into bite-size chunks)
• 1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 400ml tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 400ml tin of coconut milk (either low or full fat, whichever you prefer)
• 50g of flaked almond

Method

1. Wash and prepare the veggies – the onion, red pepper, and courgette as above. Prepare the garlic as above.
2. Add a tablespoon of oil to a large pot and set to a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until translucent.
3. Next, add your spices – turmeric, garam masala, ginger, chili powder and cumin -and stir until the onions are coated, for another 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the veggies next and stir everything up to get the spices onto the veggies too.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and chickpeas. Get that arm action going and stir everything up until combined.
6. Add the squash chunks and stir again.
7. Add most of the flaked almonds, saving a little bit to sprinkle on top.
8. Season with the black pepper and sea salt and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring every so often, until the squash is softened and easily pierced with a fork.
9. While the curry is simmering, cook or prepare your side of choice – I love having this with a grain like brown rice, spelt or quinoa. When it’s ready, serve as you like, and pop some flaked almonds on top too!

Enjoy guys! Tag me if you try this one out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x