Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry

Bring an exotic taste to your table with this totally vegetarian Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry. So good, you’ll want to add it to your regular rotation!

Are you as completely and utterly fed up with winter as I am?

I don’t know about your part of the world, but winter here has been pretty rough this year: we got so much snow, it feels like we’re completely surrounded, buried under a thick blanket of the cold white stuff. Everywhere you look, it just seems to pile up forever and ever, and quite frankly, I just can’t stand to see it anymore. I long for green grass and colorful flowers, blue skies, warm rays of sunshine and birds singing.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen for another [too long] while…

So I figured why not take a break from it all and bring a little bit of exoticism to my table with this totally vegetarian but no less filling and satisfying Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry.

I kid you not, this dish it tastes just like a summer vacation right in the middle of winter! In fact, it’s so crazy good, I’m totally wanting to make it a part of my regular rotation! Especially considering how super easy and quick to make it really is.

You know just how much I like quick and easy, right?

And this dish is made with ingredients that can pretty much be sourced year round, save for perhaps the butternut squash, which may have a slight tendency to disappear from the markets’ shelves during the warmer months of summer. When that happens, though, I’m guessing that sweet potatoes or even rutabaga would make for extremely decent replacements.

Now I can’t claim or pretend that this is an authentic Indian or Moroccan or Persian curry or whatnot. Truth is, I’ve no idea really what the actual inspiration behind it was… All I can say about it is it originated in my kitchen, where I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that, mixed it all together and that the result tasted truly amazing, so I decided to share the recipe with you.

If you’re a fan of curries and spicy food, and if you’re in the mood for a little trip “to some place” halfway across the world to where it’s warm and sunny, I think you owe it to yourself to whip this up right this minute.

The first and trickiest thing you’ll need to be doing is prep your butternut squash; once that’s out of the way, the rest is super quick and easy, you’ll see!

Just melt some coconut oil in a saute pan saute pan set over medium heat and then add the onion, garlic and cherry pepper; cook that until softened and slightly colored, about 2 minutes.

Add the squash and stir to coat, then add the spices and water, stir well and bring to a simmer.

Put the lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes…

If you’re planning on serving that over a bed of couscous, now would be a good time to make that! Just sayin’…

Make sure that you don’t overcook the squash, otherwise it’ll turn to complete mush later. It needs to still offer a slight bit of resistance when you bite into it.

As soon as the squash is done to your liking, add the chick peas, chopped tomato and cilantro and stir to combine…

Then throw in the coconut milk and lime juice and give the curry one final stir; put the lid back on and kill the heat.

Let your curry rest for 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Serve over a bed of couscous or basmati rice, garnished with additional cilantro and coconut milk, if desired.

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

4.58 from 7 votes

Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Bring an exotic taste to your table with this totally vegetarian Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry. So good, you'll want to add it to your regular rotation!

Servings: 4

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced (about 1kg | 2.2lb)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 red cherry pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ---
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp spicy curry powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• ---
• 1- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or about 2 cups cooked chickpeas)
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• The juice of 1 lime

Instructions

• Melt the coconut oil in a saute pan saute pan set over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and pepper, cook it until softened and slightly colored, about 2 minutes.
• Add the squash and stir to coat, then add the spices and water, stir well and bring to a simmer, then cover and for about 10 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender but still has a bit of a bite to it.
• Add the chick peas, chopped tomato and cilantro and stir to combine, then throw in the coconut milk and lime juice. Give the curry one final stir and then cover and kill the heat.
• Let rest for 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken; serve over couscous or basmati rice, garnished with additional cilantro and coconut milk, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 453kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Sodium: 611mg, Potassium: 1373mg, Fiber: 15g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 21730IU, Vitamin C: 90.9mg, Calcium: 171mg, Iron: 6.9mg

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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