Squash and Green Bean Curry

We had a visit this weekend from Matt's parents. Matt's mom shares our love of cooking & brought us a new cookbook, 5 Spices, 50 Dishes. The idea behind the book is that you can create flavorful Indian dishes with just 5 common spices you already have in your pantry. The book is full of amazing sounding recipes but this one just called out to me because I had the butternut squash & green beans in the fridge.

This was an interesting dish to make. The squash & beans get steamed separately them cooked briefly in coconut milk. The spice, chili & nuts are fried up & added to each serving. The resulting dish was a mild, fresh curry which we liked more with each bite. The fried mustard seeds jalapenos & almonds added so much flavor & an almost popcorn smell. This is one we'll definitely make again.

Notes on this recipe: We used jalapenos because we have a ton in the garden which gave only a mild heat. The original recipe called for green serranos so add hotter peppers if you like heat. For the nuts we used slivered almonds because we had them but the recipe called for chopped cashews. We used lite coconut milk which I think was a mistake as the sauce never got as thick as we would have liked, next time we'll suck up the extra calories & use the regular. Finally, the book said this was 4 servings, yeah, maybe as a side dish. We found it made 2 perfectly-sized entrées.

Squash & Green Bean Curry
(adapted from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes)

8 oz butternut squash, peeled & cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 c water
salt
8 oz green beans
1 c coconut milk
1 T canola oil
1/4 t mustard seeds
2 jalapenos, minced
3 T slivered almonds
hot white rice

Put the squash, water & a pinch of salt into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover & reduce heat to medium. Let steam until the squash is tender, about 6 minutes.

Remove the squash from the pot with a slotted spoon. Add the beans & bring back to a boil. Cover & reduce heat to medium. Let steam until crisp tender, about 2 1/2 minutes.

Add the squash back to the pan. Stir in the coconut milk & bring to a simmer. Let simmer uncovered until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Do not let it boil as the coconut milk with curdle. Do not stir too briskly or you'll break up the squash.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet heat the oil over high heat until smoking. Add the mustard seeds & cook until the stop popping (a splatter screen comes in really handy here). Reduce the heat to medium-low & add the jalapenos & almonds. Cook until the almonds are golden brown.

Serve the curry over hot rice & sprinkle with the pepper & nut mixture.

2 Servings

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