Last night, I made a repeat recipe. A few months ago, my co-op provided me with a surplus of yellow squash. Since my normal squashy contrivances were off limits (due to candida), I had to find something new. I did all manner of searching on Google, but couldn’t find much of anything interesting. Then I decided to substitute “zucchini” for my “yellow squash” in my search, and lo, I found some stuff. I don’t recall if I was in a curry mood at the time, but it’s what I ended up making. I probably cobbled together a few different recipes, based on what I had on hand. The basis of the recipe, however, can be found here. At its simplest, it’s a squash and legume curry. I’ve used zucchini and yellow squash. I’ve used lentils and adzuki beans. Use whatever you have on hand – it’s a very forgiving recipe.
Squashed Curry with Lentils
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 T oil (I used coconut oil, but you could use anything not very strongly flavored)
- 1 T fresh ginger, minced (if you don’t like surprise bits of ginger (I do), you might want to grate it. I’m sure a microplane would do wonders here. In my first iteration of this recipe, I used dry ginger. I prefer fresh, but when dry’s all you got, it’ll do.)
- 2-8 garlic cloves, minced (the original recipe called for two. I used eight.)
- 1 t cumin, ground
- 1 t coriander, ground
- 1/2 t tumeric
- 1 t salt
- 2 C water
- 1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk (or whatever size you’ve got)
- 1.5 C dried lentils (or other small legume), rinsed and picked over
- 1 1/2 lb zucchini (or other summer-type squash) , about 3 large or 8 small, diced
- Cilantro for garnish, if you’re so inclined
Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. If you’re quick with the knife, chop the onion while the oil heats. If not, chop away before you heat up the pan. Cook 3/4 of the onions until edges begin to brown, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes.
Note – if you want a light, bright-looking curry, you won’t want to brown the onion bits much at all. If you don’t care, and you like the rich taste of browned onions, keep going. Just aesthetics, really.
While the onions are doing their thing, mince the ginger and garlic, and put together your spices to be added (in a little dish, all together to just dump in when you’re ready). Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the spices (including salt) and cook, stirring, until spices brown and become fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in water, coconut milk, and lentils/legumes. This time, I added the lentils and beans first and kind of sautéed them for a few minutes, like you would with risotto. Not sure if it made a difference, though.
Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
At this point, assess how long your little legumes will take to cook. The original recipe said to add the zucchini now, and cook for another 15 minutes. I don’t like my zucchini to be mush, however. For my most recent recipe, with the added adzuki beans, I should have added the zucchini later in the cooking. Figure out how long your legume-like things should cook. Stir in zucchini 10 minutes before the legumes are slated to be done, and continue to simmer, covered. Stir in reserved raw onion and garnish with cilantro.
The liquid/sauce will tighten up as it gets absorbed into the legumes.
Serve with Basmati rice, if you like. I served it with curry-dusted roast chicken.
It’s thick enough to be its own side, with or without rice. Or, dilute with a bit of chicken/veggie/whatever stock, and zhip up with an immersion blender for a nice soup. Garnish with curried yogurt (or plain) and cilantro
