How to make Spicy Nepali Squash Curry

Seasonal Squash Curry

*Note: The photo was updated to show this recipe made with zucchini, not yellow squash. You can interchange your favorite seasonal squash.

This recipe is courtesy of my mother. For this, I used yellow, round squash that I picked up at the local farmer's market. However, you can experiment with different varieties of squash--some will have a sweeter flavor. You can play around with the texture too. This recipe creates a dish that has a soft consistency.

Makes 2-4 servings (varies based on portion size).

What you need:

• About 1 pound of your favorite squash
• 1/2 an onion [I used white]
• 1/2 a small tomato [or 1/3 of a large one]
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
• 1 dried chili [optional--if you want the spicy flavor]
• 15-20 fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/8 teaspoon tumeric powder
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Chop your ingredients as shown in the picture. [Note:  my garlic and ginger is combined in the picture and a whole tomato is shown even though I only used 1/3. ] Onions were chopped as small as I could get them. Squash was chopped into pieces of about 1 cm by 1 inch. The tomato was chopped about that size too. 
2. Heat the canola oil in a medium size cooking pan on the stove over medium heat. The pan should have a lid.
3. Carefully add fenugreek seeds and chili [optional] allowing them to brown. Be careful because the oil may splatter. [The lid can be used as a shield :P or you can cover the pot with the lid.]
4. Once the seeds and chili have browned, add the onions to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. This may take several minutes. If you need to take a break from stirring, be sure to turn the heat down to low. You want to avoid the onions sticking to the pan and burning. 
5. Once the onions are golden brown, turn the heat down to low.
6. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and cumin
   and stir again for a minute or so. The reason why the heat is low at this stage is the ingredients that you just added can burn easily.
7. Add the squash to the pan, cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. You will have to stir the squash every few minutes to avoid burning. If you want to check less often, decrease the heat to low, but you may need to cook a little bit longer.
8. After 15 minutes, add the chopped tomato.
9. Cover and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.
10. Add salt to taste. 
11. Serve and enjoy!

Plan ahead tip:

Keep ginger and garlic chopped and ready to go. You can even freeze it so that it lasts longer.