Sunny Sri Lankan Curry
This is one of those curries we keep coming back to week after week. There's something about the combination of roasted butternut squash, toasted cashews and those warm Sri Lankan spices that just makes everything feel a bit sunnier, even on a grey Tuesday. The squash gets all tender and caramelised in the oven, and the cashews add this amazing crunch that we are genuinely obsessed with. It comes together in about 40 minutes and it tastes like you've been cooking all day. Make it tonight, you won't regret it.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 200°C
- Large baking tray lined with parchment
- Small baking tray
- Large saucepan or wok
- Microplane or fine grater
- Cashews soaked or toasted in oven for 5–8 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ½ lime
- 100g baby spinach
- 1 small butternut squash - about 400g
- 20g cashews
- 3 garlic cloves large
- 2 banana shallots
- 5cm piece of fresh ginger
- 1 green chilli
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 15 curry leaves optional
- 200ml reduced-fat coconut milk
- 10g desiccated coconut
- 10g coriander leaves
Method
First, prep the squash and cashews
- Trim and peel the butternut squash, halve it and scoop out the seeds
- Cut the squash into 2.5cm cubes
- Spread the cubes over the lined baking tray, drizzle over the vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper
- Put the tray in the oven and roast for 30 minutes until tender
- Toast the cashews in the oven on the small baking tray for the last 5–8 minutes until golden, then roughly chop
Now, prep the rest of your ingredients
- Peel and finely dice the shallots
- Peel and grate the garlic
- Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then grate
- Rip the stem from the chilli, cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds if you prefer, then finely slice
- Trim, halve, core and dice the peppers
Time to cook the curry
- Heat the coconut oil in the large saucepan or wok over a medium heat
- Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, for 4–5 minutes
- Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir for 1 minute
- Add the turmeric, curry powder, mustard seeds, tomato purée and curry leaves (if using) and stir for 30 seconds
- Add the peppers and stir for 1 minute
- Pour the coconut milk, water and half the desiccated coconut into the pan (reserve the rest to sprinkle over the curry at the end)
- Stir to combine, turn up the heat and simmer for 4–5 minutes
Finish the curry
- Add the spinach and stir to wilt
- Add the roasted butternut squash cubes and fold them into the curry
- Squeeze the juice from the lime into the pan and fold it into the sauce
Time to serve
- Taste the curry, season to perfection with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the cashews, coriander leaves (if using) and remaining desiccated coconut and serve immediately
Tips & Variations
- Toast your cashews properly: Don't skip toasting the cashews. Five minutes in the oven makes them so much more nutty and golden, and they add a brilliant crunch on top. Keep an eye on them though, they go from perfect to burnt pretty fast.
- Make it creamier: If you want a richer sauce, stir in a tin of coconut milk when you add the liquid. It makes the whole thing extra silky and really rounds out the spices beautifully.
- Squash swap: If you can't find butternut squash, sweet potato works brilliantly here. Same method, same timings, just as delicious.
Why This Works
The trick here is roasting the squash separately instead of chucking it straight into the sauce. It concentrates all that natural sweetness and gives you these gorgeous caramelised edges that you just don't get any other way. And toasting the cashews, even just for those last few minutes in the oven, takes them from nice to absolutely incredible. Trust us on this one.