Bengali-spiced Squash

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb squash (2 kabocha squashes) or 1 lb butternut squash (900g)
• 2 -3 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 medium hot red chili pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, finely grated (2.5 cm)
• 8 green cardamom pods, podded, seeds lightly crushed
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili powder

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 200°c/400°f/gas 6.
• 2 cut the kabocha or butternut squashes into long wedges (i sliced the upper part of the butternut squash and halved the slices) and remove the peel, seeds and fibres from each piece.
• 3 heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan. add the onion wedges, garlic, chilli and ginger to the pan and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onions are just tender.
• 4 add the spices and cook for a few seconds more.
• 5 add the pieces of butternut squash and toss everything together until well coated in the spicy mixture.
• 6 put the squash into a roasting tin and roast it for 35-40 minutes, or until the squash is tender and lightly browned around the edges.
• 7 this is delicious served together with roasted chicken and mint raita, made from chopped fresh mint into natural yogurt.