Serves     6

Ingredients

This winter squash dish caught my attention when I discovered a very interesting blog, “Immigrant Kitchens,” by Lindsay Sterling. I think her concept is brilliant, in that she works side-by-side with immigrants who teach her how to make the foods of their country. In other words, her recipes are the real deal! Please visit her website by clicking on the link at the end of this recipe to learn more about the origins of this dish, as well as find foods from all over the world that she has cooked and prepared with others.

 

2 tbsp. oil

1/2 small onion, medium dice

1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped

1 tsp. cardamom powder or 3 whole black/brown cardamom pods

1/2 tsp. salt

1 14-ounce can coconut milk (or see recipe)

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash (or kabocha or hubbard), peeled and seeded, and sliced into rectangular planks 1/2″ inch by 2″ inches

1/2 tsp. turmeric

dash cinnamon to taste

 

Directions

Heat oil in large pot and sauté onion until just starting to brown. Add ginger and cardamom, stir for one minute, add coconut milk and salt. Stir and bring to a boil.

Add squash and turmeric. Once liquid boils again, check the level and add additional water if you think it is too dry, up to 1 cup. (The amount of water you add really depends on how much sauce you want with your squash.) Cover pan and turn heat to low, continue to simmer until squash is tender.

If you want nice large pieces of squash, try not to stir or bump the squash as it simmers. Once the squash is tender, remove cardamom pods if you used them. Serve pieces of squash with sauce. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each dish to taste.

Country:
Tanzania


Notes and Instructions

Recipe and photo credit with permission from Lindsay Sterling at: http://www.immigrantkitchens.com/search/label/Tanzanian%20winter%20squash

As cooked with Iman Lipumba from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in Portland, Maine, 2014. Adapted from A Taste of Tanzania, by Miriam R. Kinunda.

Recipe contribution from Linda McElroy.