Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry

Easy

Credit New York Times

Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry

David Tanis

• Yield 4 to 6 servings
• Time 30 minutes

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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

This is comfort food, Indian-style, adapted from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey. It’s also vegan, and perfect for a fall evening. Use a mixture of cultivated mushrooms; they come in all shapes and sizes. Look for royal trumpets, a large, meaty type of oyster mushroom; shiitakes, and small portobellos. Use some wild mushrooms too, if you can, like golden chanterelles, lobster or hen of the woods. You can make this as spicy as you wish, but be sure to include some cayenne and green chile, to complement and play off the creamy coconut milk sauce. Serve with basmati rice, rice noodles or mashed potatoes.

Featured in: A Warming Curry For Fall. 

Indian, Curries, Black Mustard Seed, Butternut Squash, Coconut Milk, Curry Leaves, Mushroom, Shallot, Dinner, Easy, Lunch, Quick, Main Course, Fall, Winter, Vegan, Vegetarian

1,082 ratings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 ounces butternut or other winter squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 or 2 small green chiles, such as jalapeño or serrano
• 3 medium shallots or 1 small onion, finely diced
• ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• Handful of fresh or frozen curry leaves (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Pinch of ground cayenne
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 pound mushrooms, preferably a mix of cultivated and wild, trimmed and sliced 1/8-inch thick
• ¾ cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

• Nutritional Information

Preparation

1. In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium-high. When hot, add squash cubes in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, letting cubes brown slightly, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to lift squash out, and set aside.
2. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile to open it, but leave whole. (This helps the chiles heat the sauce without making it too spicy.)
3. Add shallots, salt lightly and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves, if using, and let sizzle for 30 seconds, then add garlic, coriander, cayenne, turmeric and chiles. Stir well and cook for 30 seconds more.
4. Add mushrooms, season with salt and toss to coat. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
5. Return squash cubes to skillet, stir in coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium and simmer for another 5 minutes. If mixture looks dry, thin with a little water. Taste and season with salt.
6. Before serving, stir in lime juice. Transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with cilantro.

Thai pumpkin custard

Fall for flavor
Seasonal sweets bring festive tastes to kitchen
Published: November 11, 2015 in the Press Enterprise.

Fall is a great time to start baking for fun and for the holidays. (Thanksgiving is creeping up on us.) So try branching out with some familiar flavors used in different ways.

• • •

Halloween may be done, but pumpkin season rolls on!

You can find kaffir lime leaves in Asian grocers, online and often at natural foods stores. You can find them fresh (they freeze and store well), or even thinly sliced and jarred.

Deliciousness aside, pumpkin is a smart choice for dessert. Canned or fresh, it’s full of carotenoids and fiber, and it boasts more potassium than a banana. And a cup of canned pumpkin has just 80 calories.

Using fat-free evaporated milk gives the dessert a lovely creaminess. Combined with the coconut milk, as it is here, it delivers the kind of creamy texture that defines a custard... without all the fat and calories. In the end, nobody will suspect that they’re digging into a “light” custard.

Thai Pumpkin Custard

Start to finish: 7 hours 30 minutes (20 minutes active)

Servings: 6

3 large eggs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar, preferably dark

1/2 cup lite coconut milk

5 ounces fat-free evaporated milk

2 teaspoons finely minced Kaffir lime leaves (or 11/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest)

11/2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup pumpkin puree

Chopped crystallized ginger or toasted coconut, to garnish

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a kettle of water to a simmer.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs.

Add the brown sugar and beat just until any lumps have dissolved.

Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, lime leaves, lime juice, rum, if using, vanilla seeds or extract, salt and pumpkin puree.

Beat just until smooth.

Divide the mixture between six 1-cup ramekins.

Set the ramekins into a rectangular baking pan (such as a lasagna pan), pour enough simmering water into the baking pan to come half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Carefully transfer the baking pan to the oven’s middle shelf and bake until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool on a wire rack.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 6 hours.

Serve each portion topped with some of the crystallized ginger or coconut.

Recipe from Sara Moulton for the Associated Press.

Nutritional information per serving: 170 calories; 30 calories from fat (18 percent of total calories); 3.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 90 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 23 g sugar; 6 g protein; and 170 mg sodium.

Lisa Mael's excellent vegan lentil soup

Lisa Mael's excellent vegan lentil soup. Huge hit at synagogue. Not so much with spice-hating co-workers.

Lentils

1 tsp. each to begin (add more to adjust flavor at the end) Ground cumin,

ground coriander, ground turmeric, ground chili pepper, salt & pepper to
taste. You may also want to add a cube of vegetable bullion or base
whatever you have on hand.

olive oil to cover the bottom of a soup pot

1 medium onion diced

4 - 6 cloves garlic diced or I use a garlic press

2 carrots sliced 1/4 rounds

2 red potatoes small cubes

1 cup red lentils (any type of lentil will do) rinsed and drained

1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

Any type of beans cannellini, garbanzo, I used Red Kidney

1 15oz can of coconut milk

1 Tbsp fresh ginger finely shredded/chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Cilantro or parsley for garnish




Sautee onion in olive oil, add spices to bring out flavors, add garlic

Just before these ingredients get too hot add can of whole tomatoes and

crush by hand

fill the empty tomatoes can with water and add to pot

Add carrots and potatoes and lentils, cook until they become tender

Add beans, coconut milk and ginger bring to a simmer

Finish with the juice of half a lemon or more if you like

Top with cilantro or parsley


I like to say "use this recipe as a tool not the rule"  how can you go

wrong with these ingredients?  Add seasonal vegetables I've used winter
squash  in place of potatoes or zucchini in the summer with fresh tomatoes
in place of canned.

I love to serve lentil stew with Quiona