Vegan Hokkaido Squash Curry
This curry is packed with flavor and vegetables! Serve this creamy curry with a side of rice and topped with avocado and peanuts and it's the perfect easy vegan dinner dish!
How do you develop a new recipe? For me, it's often looking around the kitchen and feeling inspired by what's there. I had a bunch of vegetables in the fridge (as I have most of the time) and also half a hokkaido squash that I wanted to use up. It all started from there! Plus I was hungry...
Hokkaido squash is one of the most available types of squash in Germany. It's basically hokkaido and butternut. You can totally substitute it with butternut if you cannot get hokkaido squash but they're a bit different. Hokkaido squash is sort of round and bright orange and originally comes from Japan. It's very popular here in Germany. It's got a sweet mild flavor and you can eat the skin if you like. I tend to peel it anyways but it's totally edible and gets soft during cooking.
Butternut squash has a more pale color and a longer shape – sort of like a pear. It originated in South America but has become very popular here recently as well. My husband has known it for pretty much all his life in South Africa but here it took much longer until you could buy it at the shops. Butternut squash has a mild buttery flavor.
Now, I didn't only use the typical curry spices in this dish but also a spice mixture called Baharat. This mixture stems from the Middle East and is one of my favorite spice mixtures. It typically consists of chili, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and cardamom. It adds a nice depth to dishes. If you can't find it and want to make it yourself, here's what looks like a nice recipe!
In order for this dish to become creamy and flavorful, it will need to simmer for a while so factor that in before you start cooking. But once you have chopped all your lovely colorful vegetables, you can do something else while your curry does it's magic.
By the way, topping it with chopped avocado and peanuts is obviously not mandatory but I highly recommend it. I love eating food with different textures and having a nice crunch is so satisfying to me!
Will you make this for lunch or dinner soon? Or how about super yummy Vegan Buddha Bowl?
This curry is packed with flavor and vegetables! Serve this creamy curry with a side of rice and topped with avocado and peanuts and it's the perfect easy vegan dinner dish!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 leek (the white part)
- 1 medium-sized zucchini
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 pound Hokkaido squash
- 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4+1/8 teaspoon Baharat spice mixture (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- coriander (optional)
First, prepare all your vegetables. Peel and chop the garlic and the red onion.
Wash the leek thoroughly (there's often some bits of soil in between the layers) and cut it into rings.
Chop the zucchini and bell pepper.
Peel and chop the carrot. Peel, seed and chop the Hokkaido squash.
Chop the tomatoes.
Hokkaido squash is one of the kinds where you can eat the peel. I choose not to but feel free to not peel it.Heat up olive oil in a pan at medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds.
Add the leek. Fry for 3 minutes.
Add the curry powder and fry for another minute until fragrant.
Add zucchini, bell pepper, carrot and Hokkaido squash. Fry for another 5 minutes. Stir ever now and then.
Add the broth and chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 35 minutes.
Add coconut milk, Baharat spice mixture and lemon juice. Stir well. Season more if desired! Top with chopped coriander. Enjoy!
Baharat spice mixture: Baharat (which means "spices" in Arabic) is a spice blend used in Middle Eastern (especially the Arabian Gulf region) and Greek cuisine. Typical baharat seasoning ingredients include allspice, chili peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, and peppercorns.
If you cannot get Baharat, you can either make it yourself (see the link above which also contains a recipe) or you can use Ras el Hanout or Garam Masala instead.
