Butternut Squash Curry

5 from 10 votes
Comment
Jump to Recipe

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I always grow butternut squash in my garden, and I often do so well I am at a loss as to how I might use all of them. Then I bought a fantastic cookbook by Yohannis Gebreysus called Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa. In it is a squash stew, but when you look closely, it is, essentially a butternut squash curry.

Some of you may know that I once worked in an Ethiopian restaurant, ages ago. We did not have a squash curry on the menu all the time, but my boss, a woman named Meselesh Ayele, would make one for autumn. I never did learn that recipe, but I was hoping this one in the book would be similar. It is.

A bowl of butternut squash curry
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Curry, you should know, is not just the province of India, although I’m pretty sure India is its origin. Ethiopia has traded with the Subcontinent for millennia, and their cuisines have benefited from that exchange.

One of the signature features of Indian cooking is their skill with vegetarian dishes. To my mind, India’s mastery of vegetarian cooking is only matched by the Chinese; I’d happily forego meat in either cuisine — not something I say lightly. This butternut squash curry is one of those quasi-vegetarian dishes. I say “quasi” because I used pheasant stock to make it; you of course could use whatever stock makes you happy, vegetarian or no. It just needs to be light in color.

There is one unusual ingredient you need for this dish: berbere. This is the signature spice mix of Ethiopia, and everyone makes it differently. I have my own recipe for berbere here, and you can buy the powder online from places like Penzey’s.

If you really want to make this butternut squash curry sing, cook it in niter kibbeh, the spiced, clarified butter of Ethiopia. (Here’s how to make it.) But if that’s too much for you, buy some ghee from the supermarket or just use regular butter.

I know, some of you are thinking, “can I add meat here?” Yes, you can. If it were me, I’d add white meat of some sort, or fish or seafood. Lobster or shrimp would be especially good, as would shredded poultry like pheasant or chicken, rabbit or quail.

You can serve this as is, like a stew, or with rice or bread. At the restaurant we served it with injera, the Ethiopian crepe-like flatbread made from a grain called teff.

I love cooking with butternut and other squash, and if you do too, you might like my recipes for butternut squash soup, squash gnocchi or squash spรคtzle.

Butternut squash curry in a bowl
5 from 10 votes

Butternut Squash Curry

This is an Ethiopian version of squash curry that's spicy and creamy all at the same time. It's great as-is, but would also be good over rice. You can add meat if you want to.
Course: lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: Ethiopian
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Hank Shaw
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 2 red onions, minced
  • 1/4 cup niter kibbeh, ghee or unsalted butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon berbere spice mix
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek (optional)
  • 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • Salt to taste

Instructions 

  • Add the onions to a large, heavy pot and turn the heat to medium-high. As they heat up, keep an eye on the onions, stirring them frequently so they don't stick. You want to sweat them without oil at this point. When they've lost some moisture and are wilting, now add the butter and start sautรฉing them. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add all the remaining ingredients except the stock, mix well and cook for about 5 minutes, again stirring often. Pour in the stock, bring it to a simmer and add salt to taste. Simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender.

Nutrition

Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 597mg | Potassium: 891mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 24359IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 127mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

You May Also Like

Ethiopian Doro Wat

A recipe for Ethiopian doro wat, a spicy stewed chicken dish. This recipe is how we made doro wat when I worked at an Ethiopian restaurant.

Niter Kibbeh

Niter kibbeh, spiced Ethiopian butter, is not so much a sauce as a cooking medium, although it does make an…

Berbere Spice Mix

Berbere spice mix is essential to Ethiopian cooking, along with the clarified spiced butter known as niter kebbeh. Berbere (ber-BERRY)…

Hunt Gather Talk: West African Seafood

In this episode, I talk with cookbook author Zoe Adjonyoh about her book Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, and the role of fish and seafood in West African cuisine. This is a cuisine you’ll want to get to know.

About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

5 from 10 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




13 Comments

  1. Bought some Berbere recently but hadnโ€™t figured out how to use it yet. Tried it out with a kuri squash on hand and it was terrific.

    We will try your pheasant recipe tomorrow. I appreciate the detail in that recipe. So many recipes on line are just โ€œborrowedโ€ from someone else and you donโ€™t have any sense that it is the result of experience.

  2. Could I add garbanzo beans?
    Also plan on adding cubed berbere spiced chicken tenders pan fried in niter kebbeh.

  3. Very cool. I first heard about berbere 2 weeks ago.
    I have minimal room for spices in my tiny kitchen so maybe I can scarf some off of my friend and try this recipe sometime.

  4. Got a butternut squash in my CSA yesterday and woke up to this recipe this morning. Perfect timing. Luckily we have a Penzyโ€™s right down the street, too. Added shredded chicken thighs. Absolutely epic!

  5. Made this tonight! Added ground turkey (farm raised as we didnโ€™t harvest one during the fall season, but we enjoyed the hunt all the same) and chicken stock as well as squirrel stock (from squirrels we did harvest)!!!! Awesome!!!

  6. Crappy day here in Minnesota so I thought it would be a good day for this recipe. I did make my own Berbere and cut back on the cayenne. My wife and I do not like the hot stuff!! Other wise it turned out awesome and am planning to make it again. I made enough Berbere for another batch so I have too!!

  7. I’ve heard Curry cuisine is a bit spicey,a little on the hot side. To what degree is it,please? I’m sensitive to real spicey dishes.
    Thank you,Ms. Harrison

    1. made Chicken Doro Wat another using Berbere it is spicy, but slow burn spicy. First you get a depth of flavour from the spices, especially the Berbere & the Cardamom, after that comes the spice. For me relatively mild but I’m used to spicy food. Hope you try it and are suprised. cooked this for friends to near universal praise, even from those who don’t like it “too spicy”.