Butternut curry-cooked Sri Lankan style with tempering and thick coconut milk to give you a creamy vegan and vegetarian curry.
Butternut squash can be cooked in a similar style as the pumpkin curry.
The difference would be that making a curry with butternut is that it would give you a slightly creamier and sweeter curry.
If you are looking to cook a curry that is healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free, and cooked as a one-pot easy curry, try my squash curry recipe.
What to serve with butternut curry.
Since the butternut curry is creamy, you can serve it with a bowl of rice, roti, or chapatis.
The mildly spiced curried squash will balance off any spicy dishes that are added to the meal.
For a change in your rice and curry menu, you can replace,
Potato curry
Dhal curry,
Kalupol pumpkin curry
creamy carrot curry with the easy squash curry.
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Meat dishes to serve with butternut curry
- Sri Lankan chicken curry.
- old-fashioned slow-cooked beef curry.
- Chettinad chicken curry
- Sri Lankan chilli fish curry are some of the meat dishes to serve with this mildly spiced veggie curry
vegetarian curries to serve with butternut curry.
- Gotukola mallum
- parsley salad
- Spicy chilli beans stir fry
- Spicy tomato and onion salad
- Beetroot curry
- Brinjal pahi or even a simple coconut sambol would do well, don’t forget to add a bit of crunch with some poppadams.
Appliances and utensils needed
Chopping board / Knife
Medium to large cooking pan to cook the squash curry.
RECIPE DIFFICULTY- EASY
Ingredients to cook butternut curry.
The ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
3 tablespoons of oil
Sprig of curry leaves(substitute with a bay leaf)
1 large onion sliced fine
4 cloves of garlic sliced fine
2″cinnamon piece
3 whole dried chilies (you can substitute with 1/2 a teaspoon of red chili flakes, add more for spice or less for a mild curry)
1/2 a teaspoon of red chili powder(reduce or increase as per your need)
1 teaspoon cumin powder(substitute with a good curry powder)
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
500g of butternut squash(if you are a small family of 2-4 choose smaller butternut weighing roughly 300g)
1-2 cups of water to cook the butternut squash
1/2 a cup to 1 cup of thick coconut milk(depending on how much gravy you want)
How to cook Sri Lankan butternut curry
How to clean and cut butternut squash for the curry.
- Wash the butternut well and wipe clean.
- Place the squash on its side, keep in mind that cutting through it can be difficult as the butternut has thicker skin than the pumpkin.
- You will also need to be careful and hold the squash firmly to avoid it slipping as you cut through the skin.
- Use a heavy knife to cut the stem and the bottom and then cut the butternut in two.
- cut the butternut into thick round pieces as below.
- The thick rounded slices can be cut in half while scooping out the seeds.
- Cut these squash wedges into half which will result in smaller cubes as shown below.
Cooking the butternut curry
Place pan over a low-medium fire.
Pour in the oil(4 tbsp). let it warm for a few seconds.
Add sliced onions(2 medium), curry leaves(a sprig, substitute with a bay leaf), sliced cloves of garlic(4), cinnamon piece(2″), dried chillies (3 whole, substitute with 1/2 tsp of red chilli flakes, increase or decrease as per your need).
Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until the onions turn slightly golden.
Add turmeric powder(1/2 tsp), red chilli powder(1/2 tsp), and cumin powder(1/2 tsp, you can also substitute with Sri Lankan curry powder).
Cook over low heat for 1 minute.
Add mustard seeds(1 tsp)and further cook for a minute or two.
Add the butternut squash cubes, season with salt and continue to cook with the tempering for another 2-3 minutes.
Pour in the water(1 and 1/2 cups)or completely submerge the squash cubes and continue to cook over medium fire.
You can cover and cook until the water reduces and the butternut is somewhat tender.
This will probably take about 15-25 minutes.
Pour in the milk(1/2 cup to 1 cup), depending on how much gravy you need.
Reduce heat to low and cook until the curry thickens. stir in the coconut milk, taste, and season with salt if needed.
Once the butternut squash curry is ready, you can do a quick tempering and pour over the curry or serve it as it is.
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Butternut squash curry
Butternut squash curry cooked Sri Lankan style with tempering and thick coconut milk to give you a creamy vegan and vegetarian curry.
Butternut squash can be cooked in a similar style as the pumpkin curry.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of oil
- Sprig of curry leaves(substitute with a bay leaf)
- 1 large onion sliced fine
- 4 cloves of garlic sliced fine
- 2″cinnamon piece
- 3 whole dried chilies (you can substitute with 1/2 a teaspoon of red chili flakes, add more for spice or less for a mild curry)
- 1/2 a teaspoon of red chili powder(reduce or increase as per your need)
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder(substitute with a good curry powder)
- 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
- 500g of butternut squash(if you are a small family of 2-4 choose smaller butternut weighing roughly 300g)
- 1-2 cups of water to cook the butternut squash
- 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of thick coconut milk(depending on how much gravy you want)
Instructions
How to clean and cut butternut squash for the curry.
Wash the butternut well and wipe clean.
Place the squash on its side, keep in mind that cutting through it can be difficult as the butternut has thicker skin than the pumpkin.
You will also need to be careful and hold the squash firmly to avoid it slipping as you cut through the skin.
Use a heavy knife to cut the stem and the bottom and then cut the butternut in two.
The thick rounded slices can be cut in half while scooping out the seeds.
Cut these squash wedges into half which will result in smaller cubes as shown below.
Cooking the curried butternut squash.
Place pan over a low-medium fire.
Pour in the oil(4 tbsp). let it warm for a few seconds.
Add sliced onions(2 medium), curry leaves(a sprig, substitute with a bay leaf), sliced cloves of garlic(4), cinnamon piece(2″), dried chilies (3 whole, substitute with 1/2 tsp of red chili flakes, increase or decrease as per your need).
Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until the onions turn slightly golden.
Add turmeric powder(1/2 tsp), red chili powder(1/2 tsp), cumin powder(1/2 tsp, you can also substitute with a Sri Lankan curry powder).
Cook over low heat for 1 minute.
Add mustard seeds(1 tsp)and further cook for a minute or two.
Add the butternut squash cubes, season with salt, and continue to cook with the tempering for another 2-3 minutes.
Pour in the water(1 and 1/2 cup)or completely submerge the squash cubes and continue to cook over medium fire.
You can cover and cook until the water reduces and the butternut is somewhat tender. This will probably take about 15-25 minutes.
Pour in the milk(1/2 cup to 1 cup), depending on how much gravy you need.
Reduce heat to low and cook until the curry thickens. stir in the coconut milk, taste, and season with salt if needed.
Once the butternut squash curry is ready, you can do a quick tempering and pour over the curry or serve as it is.
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