Vegetable satay curry

Packed with all of your 5-a-day, this Thai vegetable curry is loaded with butternut squash, peppers and greens, and coated in a creamy satay sauce.

Peanut butter on a wholemeal bagel is one of my desert island dishes, but if that island came with a frying pan, I’d probably follow it up with a satay curry.

This recipe is not overly hot, so it’s a child friendly and not too dissimilar from a korma despite the addition of Thai red curry paste.

I’ve made it meat free by championing butternut squash and edamame beans, but you could poach a chicken breast in the satay sauce and shred the meat before serving.

Everything You Need To Know To Make My Vegetable Satay Curry

• Chef Catling’s recipe notes
• Serving suggestions
• Recipe: Vegetable satay curry
• How do you prepare a butternut squash?
• Frequently asked questions

Tips & Notes To Know

• Cut the butternut squash into equal-sized pieces: This ensures everything cooks evenly so you’re not left with under- and overcooked chunks.
• Build the base properly: Fry the shallots, garlic, chilli and curry paste in a little oil first to release their aromas and add depth of flavour.
• Time the vegetables: You want the butternut squash and courgettes just cooked but still holding their shape. Overcooking risks dulling the colour of the curry and making it mushy.

Serving Suggestions

• On a bed of coconut, basmati, sticky or jasmine rice.
• Tossed through egg or rice noodles.
• With a side order of garlic and coriander naan breads and onion bhajis.

Vegetable satay curry

Serves: 4 Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 40 mins 40 mins

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Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 butternut squash, cut into chunks
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 heaped tbsp Thai red curry paste
4 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
400ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 dried kaffir lime leaves
1 courgette, cut into rings
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
100g edamame beans
1 lime, juice only

To garnish
1 tbsp unsalted peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Instructions

Step 1
Coat the butternut squash chunks in half the vegetable oil and season well. Spread out on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven at 190C for 35-40 minutes, tossing halfway, until caramelised and tender.

Step 2
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the remaining vegetable oil (alternatively use a tablespoon of the fat collected at the top of the coconut milk tin). Toss in the shallot and cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured.

Step 3
Add the garlic and red chilli and stir-fry for 1 minute before adding the Thai curry paste. Add a splash of water to stop it from catching and continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nicely fragrant and thick.

Step 4
Stir in the peanut butter, coconut milk, vegetable stock, Thai fish sauce and kaffir lime leaves and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and leave to blip away for 10 minutes or until the sauce has started to reduce and thicken.

Step 5
Stir the courgette, red pepper and edamame beans into the satay sauce and cook gently for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are just cooked.

Step 6
Add the roasted butternut squash to the pan, mix well and season to taste with salt, pepper and lime juice. Remove from the heat.

Step 7
Divide the vegetable satay curry between plates and garnish with roasted peanuts.

How Do You Prepare A Butternut Squash?

1. A sharp knife and a sturdy chopping board are essential when attempting to tackle a butternut squash. You need to create a stable base, so trim off the ends in the same way you would a pineapple.
2. You can keep the skin on, which is edible, or you can pop the butternut squash in the microwave for 30 seconds which makes peeling it a lot easier.
3. Stand the butternut squash upright and use a chef’s knife to cut down the centre, from top to bottom, to expose the seeds at the neck end.
4. Use a metal spoon to scrape out the seeds, which can then be tossed with a little olive oil and roasted at 180C for 20 minutes or until crisp to make toasted pumpkin seeds. The stringy pulp from the cavity should be discarded or composted.
5. You can roast the two butternut squash halves or, for the purpose of this recipe, cut into chunks to reduce the cooking time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Peanut Butter Should I Use?

Supermarket shelves can be a minefield because of the amount of options available. As a rule of thumb, look for jars which contain 100% nuts with no added sugars or palm oils.

A lot of own-brand products are free of nasties and half the price of more established brands like Sunpat and Skippy.

What Is The Difference Between Using Coconut Milk, Creamed Coconut And Coconut Cream?

I have been caught out before, so it’s worth knowing that creamed coconut and coconut cream are two very different things. Creamed coconut is unsweetened, dried coconut flesh which has been ground down and formed into a semi-solid block.

Coconut cream and coconut milk, on the other hand, are made by combining the same raw ingredient and blending it with water. 

Coconut cream uses a higher proportion of the flesh, hence it is higher in calories and more concentrated like whipped cream.

You can make your own coconut milk for this recipe by diluting a 100g block of creamed coconut (I use Blue Dragon) in 300ml of warm water. A 2:1 ratio of water to coconut cream will also yield the same result.

What Curry Paste Should I Use?

My advice – as with everything – is to always read the label. If you haven’t heard of some of the ingredients listed, you should maybe question whether this is something you want to be putting into your body.

Supermarket shelves can be a bit of a minefield, but I tend to use brands like Spice Tailor and Mae Ploy which use only natural ingredients without any artificial colours, MSG or preservatives.