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Melissa Hemsley cooking soup in her home kitchen, by Sarah Malcolm
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Squash and Lentil Curry with Thai Gremolata

Total Time40 mins
Course: dinner
Cuisine: Thai
Keyword: Curry, Lentil, squash
Servings: 6
Author: Melissa Hemsley

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp ground cumin or 1 tsp seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander or 1 tsp seeds
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 1 large butternut squash about 1.2kg
  • 400 g split red lentils rinsed
  • 1x400 ml tin of full-fat coconut milk
  • 1.5 litres vegetable stock or bone broth
  • 11/2 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce or extra tamari
  • sea salt

CURRY PASTE

  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 onions halved, or 3 shallots
  • 1 lemongrass stalk or peel from
  • 1/2 lemon no white pith
  • 1-2 fresh chillies or chilli flakes to taste
  • 1 thumb of ginger roughly chopped

THAI GREMOLATA

  • 1 handful of peanuts or cashews
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • juice and zest of 2 limes
  • 1-2 fresh chillies to taste, seeds included if you like
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 big handful of fresh coriander leaves and stems
  • 1 big handful of fresh basil or Thai basil leaves and stems, plus a little mint if you like (leaves only for the mint)

Instructions

  • Toast the peanuts or cashews for the gremolata for a minute in a large, deep-sided saucepan until golden and set aside.
  • Make the curry paste by blitzing the garlic, onion, lemongrass, chilli and ginger in a food processor – it doesn’t need to be totally smooth.
  • Add the spices to the pan you used for the nuts and let them toast for a minute, then add the curry paste and the ghee or oil and fry gently for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile chop the squash into 2cm chunks. I don’t bother peeling it, just remove the seeds.
  • Add the squash and lentils to the pan with the coconut milk and stock or broth. Give it a stir, then pop a lid on and let simmer over a medium heat for about 25 minutes or until the squash is tender. Stir every 5 minutes or so, watching out so the lentils don’t catch on the bottom of the pan, and adding more liquid if it looks dry or if you like it soupier. Season with tamari, fish sauce or a little salt.
  • While the curry is cooking, make the gremolata. Add the toasted nuts to the food processor (no need to wash it out from earlier) with all the other ingredients and pulse until just chopped – it should be drier and chunkier than a pesto and full of flavour and tang. Serve the curry with a good dollop of gremolata on top.