An event, backyard cooking and more...

Anshul's summer project is begining to bear fruit - more vegetables to be precise, but we are really proliferated with lovely green spinach, red beets and yet new big tomatoes. I am a little tired tonight to post the garden pictures, but promise to do this over the weekend!

This particular recipe is the begining of what I shall be calling backyard cooking, recipes inspired by what I can find in my backyard - in this instance the tomato and the cilantro are from the backyard. The rest of the recipe just came together.


Butternut Squash and Zucchini Curry

The recipe has lots of lemony notes that are a perfect contrast to the sweet butternut squash used here. I have also added crumbled paneer (I made this a couple of days back) for some richness and body. The recipe is gently tempered with mustard seeds, that makes a lovely nutty contrast to the onions and garlic scapes that are used to form the base of this rather simple homestyle dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard or extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 medium sized red onion, peeled and cut into a dice
1/2 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
1 large tomato, cut into a dice
1 zuchini, cut into a large dice (basically the size here is in between a cube and a dice)
2 cups, diced butternut squash (this can be pumpkin)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)
3/4 cup crumbled paneer
1 lime or lemon, halved and seeded
3/4 cup chopped cilantro


Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the mustard and nigella seeds and cook for about 30 seconds until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
2. Add in the onion and garlic scapes and saute on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the onion is wilted and transluscent.
3. Add in the tomato and cook for another 3-4 minutes until soft.
4. Stir in the zuchini and butternut squash with the salt, turmeric and chili powder (if using this) and the paneer, mix well, cover and cook for 7 minutes till the vegetables are soft.
5. Squeeze in the lemon or lime juice and the cilantro. Remove from heat and serve.

If you like this kind of cooking, please check in through next week. The Westchester bloggers are doing a blogathon to promote the local farmers markets. You can see the blogs in the, "In the neighbourhood section of my blog. If you are a food blogger in Westchester, please join the Westchester Food Bloggers group on Facebook to join the fun!