A good curry can be just the ticket if it’s a bit frosty outside.

Ok, so it’s not really frosty outside here, but Mrs J still fancied a good curry. And she saw this beautiful butternut squash specimen on sale in the store.

Presumably it’s the post-pumpkin-season price dump since there’s certainly nothing else wrong with this squash. Though if pumpkins are (perhaps) passé for the year, other kinds of squash are surely still in season?

Mrs J may have just lucked out.

Making this curry does take a while but it’s very tasty. And while you have to start on time if you want to serve dinner at a reasonable hour, you won’t be stirring pots the whole time. So there’s a chance to get something else done in between steps.

Or time read your book if you prefer. Mrs J definitely prefers.

Anywho, here’s a fairly short description of how to make it.

Take squash, peel, deseed and cut in cubes. Sprinkle with brown sugar and some salt, then roast at 200°C for 30 minutes. Let cool enough to handle safely.

Thaw out and peel some frozen raw tiger shrimp.

Mrs J buys them with their heads already chopped off. Peeling in general isn’t Mrs J’s favorite kitchen activity. Just in case you hadn’t noticed. She did peel the squash already though so a little shortcut is more than in order.

Also, chop one tomato and slice an onion.

Chop some ginger and an equal amount of garlic.

Put some sunflower oil in a big pan and soften the onions and ginger for a few minutes. Keep the heat on medium.

Now take half your roasted butternut squash and use your mixer to make a purée. Add water to help the process (1/2 to 1 dl for one squash should do it). Save the rest of the squash for later.

Add the garlic to your pan. Also add some tomato paste and some red curry paste.

(The amount of curry paste is up to you, but it’s good to add at least some in this step for depth of flavour. Mrs J used about a teaspoon to one squash. If you’re not sure how spicy that will make it, add less. At the end you can always add some cayenne pepper.)

Stir for a minute to activate the flavours. Add the chopped tomato and your squash purée. Stir for a few minutes.

Add chicken or vegetable broth until the mixture is a saucy consistency. Let simmer for 20 minutes or so. Then add about the same volume as broth in coconut milk and let simmer for another 20 min or so. At this point it should be nice and creamy. Taste and add salt, sugar, lime juice, cayenne pepper and chili pepper until it’s as sweet and/or spicy as you like it. Mrs J likes it pretty spicy.

Cut some sugar beans and add to the curry.

Let simmer for a couple of minutes to make sure the beans cook a bit before finally adding the shrimp and your roasted squash cubes. The squash just needs to heat through and you don’t want to cook the shrimp for more than a few minutes or they’ll go tough.

Chop a bunch of coriander.

Stir in some of it into the curry and use the rest for decoration.

Serve immediately with rice.