Roasted Butternut Squash with Beets & Curry

The secret to tasty Indian food is a good combination of spices (masala). Be assured that this recipe includes an excellent combination of spices. You may not have all of the spices called for below but if you don’t it is worth the effort to find them. If you live in Ojai, you can find all of them at Rainbow Bridge Natural Foods.

For a complete vegan meal, substitute vegetable oil for the ghee and complement the squash and beets with an equal serving of aromatic basmati rice or Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice (also at Rainbow Bridge).

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (cut into 1-inch cubes)

6 medium beets (cut into 1-inch cubes)

¼ teaspoon coconut oil

¼ teaspoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon ghee

½ teaspoon asafoetida

1 teaspoon panch phoron (Bengali Five Spice)

¼ cup water

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon ground cumin seed

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon garam masala (curry powder)

Salt to taste

cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Peel and then cut the squash in half. You can leave the peel on for more nutrition. It cooks well. Clean out the seeds and pulp at the bulbous end (I always wanted to use the word bulbous. Great word. I can now cross it off my list). Cut squash into 1-inch cubes.

Thoroughly scrub the beets and leave the peel on. Remove the tops and the tips and cut each beet into 1-inch cubes (save the beet greens and lightly sauté later on as a nice vegetable side dish).

In a medium sized pot, heat the oils and the ghee on medium-low heat. Add asafoetida and panch phoron. When seeds start popping, add the beets and the squash. Toss to coat. Cook for approximately 3 minutes.

Add water, cover and cook on medium-low for another 20 minutes or until beets and squash can barely be pierced with fork tines. Add balance of spices and salt to taste. If vegetables stick to the pan, add another ¼ cup of water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes more on medium-low or until the squash/beets can be easily pierced.

Transfer vegetables to a serving bowl, garnish with cilantro and serve while still warm.