This delicious adaptation of an Indian curry is the perfect comfort food.
Some Indian stews — curries — are too spicy for me. But this balti gives the perfect balance. And this dish uses my favourite autumn / winter vegetable: butternut squash! Roast the butternut squash and some sweet potato and mix it into the curry for a delicious feel-good meal.
Indian curries can be quite elaborate and tricky, but with this dish you use a spice paste to recreate the base of the curry and give it a deep flavour. This dish is originally from a Sainsbury’s magazine but as usual I have modified it slightly, mainly with more vegetables and more detailed instructions.
Winter balti curry
10 minutes preparation + 20 minutes cooking — serves 2
Ingredients
Tip: you can also use a pack of pre-cut butternut squash and sweet potato cubes to make this dish even easier and faster to prepare. If you do, skip steps 2 and 3.
- 200 grams butternut squash
- 200 grams sweet potato
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3-4 tablespoons balti curry paste (check the paste is suitable for vegetarians)
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml vegetable stock (prepared with 0.5 vegetable stock cube)
- 160 grams rice
- 100 grams spinach
- Pepper and salt
- Oil
- Optional: greek-style yoghurt
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 220 degrees.
- Peel the butternut squash and cut into 2cm cubes.
- Peel the sweet potato and cut into 2cm cubes.
- Mix the pumpkin and potato cubes with a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Roast the vegetables in a large oven dish for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Toss halfway through.
- Bring a liter of water to a boil in a kettle.
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Peel the garlic and chop finely.
Preparing the curry
- Wash the rice and bring to a boil in a pot with the pre-boiled water.
- Cook the rice for c. 19 minutes (longer/shorter depending on packing instructions). Drain and keep aside.
- Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion once the pan is hot. Fry the onion for c. 6 minutes until soft.
- Add the garlic and spice paste to the pan and heat for another 2 minutes.
- Add the whole can of chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock to the pan. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Bringing it all together
- Wash the spinach.
- Add the roasted pumpkin and sweet potato to the curry. Mix through.
- Add the spinach to the pan, cover with a lid, and heat for 2 minutes to wilt the spinach.
- Stir the curry once more and then serve with the rice, and possibly some yoghurt as an extra garnish.
Enjoy your meal!
Did you like this?
Leave a comment below if you made this recipe, and let me know what you think. Tips and feedback to improve the recipe are always welcome too!