Chicken and Butternut Pumpkin Satay Curry

• Prep Time 10 minutes
• Cook Time 30 minutes
• Total Time 40 minutes
• Servings 6
• Calories 615 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 butternut pumpkin (medium to large), peeled and chopped into smallish cubes
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 6 cloves garlic crushed
• 5cm fresh ginger peeled and chopped finely
• 900g chicken thighs chopped into small pieces
• 1 can coconut milk 
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste good quality – authentic Thai brands are good
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cans (400g) chopped tomatoes

To serve

• Fresh coriander, crushed peanuts & natural yogurt (I use Greek yogurt)
• Rice & poppadums

Instructions

1. Toss the butternut squash in a large bowl with the chili powder, curry powder, cayenne pepper and turmeric, and set aside.
2. Heat up a big drizzle of oil in a heavy skillet, then cook the garlic and ginger together for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken and cook for another two minutes or so or until white.
3. Add the coconut milk, then stir in the peanut butter*, Thai curry paste and honey.
4. Add the butternut squash and spices and the tomatoes, and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes* or until the chicken is cooked through and the squash is tender. Squish about half of the squash into the curry.
5. Serve over rice, garnished with the coriander and peanuts, and with the yoghurt and poppadums on the side.

Notes

Adapted from Pinch of Yum’s 30-minute squash coconut curry.

If you can’t find butternut squash, any kind of pumpkin is fine. I’d use about half a small pumpkin instead of a butternut squash. I find different types of pumpkin/squash cook at slightly different rates, so you may want to shorten/lengthen the cooking time a little accordingly.

*I find it works best to put a lid on the pan (if you have one) for the first two thirds of the cooking time (roughly!), then take it off for the last third to allow the sauce to thicken up a bit (then the sauce thickens even more when you squish the pumpkin/squash in!).

When adding the coconut milk and peanut butter, I'd recommend pushing the chicken out of the way so that you can easily mix them together in the bottom of the pan.

One last note - the spicy-ness of this dish can vary a bit according to the potency of the curry paste you use. Maybe go a little easier on it (and on the cayenne and chili powder) if you know you're using a really spicy paste (I find authentic pastes tend to be quite spicy). I find 3 tablespoons of paste to be about right for us, for a pretty spicy but not set-your-mouth-on-fire-all-day result, but at the end of the day it's down to personal taste. Good luck!