Friday 17 January 2014

Roasted Butternut Squash Byriani #thriftyfood

Firstly apologies for such a delay on posting any new recipes - life kind of got in the way.

This is a lovely recipe and very easy, you can use what ever ingredients you have lurking in your fridge or cupboard. My husbands comment last night was - This is a triumph

Spoon usage 1
Serves 2 hungry adults or could do 4 smaller portions with a few added extras
cost - £3.50 - you can reduce cost if you omit the quorn

Ingredients
Ive chosen
1 butternut squash
handful of peas
spinach (frozen - ive discovered the frozen stuff is a bargain)
1/4 of a courgette
1 small carrot
150 grams quorn pieces (but chicken, tofu will work just as well)
Rice - 1 cup
1/2 can Coconut milk (you could also use coconut cream - or natural yogurt if you don't like coconut)
1 table spoon Tikka paste or curry paste of your choice (if you dont have any then use a jar or combine spices of choice - usually chili, ginger, cumin seeds, ground coriander, tomato puree, salt and a little oil to bind)

** you could use frozen veg easily in this recipe it is really up to you but the combination i used worked very well)

***If you have raisins they would work well too in this, or almonds


This is such an easy recipe and takes very little energy to make

Prep
Prick the butternut squash
dice the carrots 
take the peas and frozen spinach out

1. Turn on the oven to 180 or gas mark 5 - put the butternut squash in the bottom of the oven on a tray bake for 1 hour (I try to make sure i cook other things too so i dont waste the heat)

2.Part cook the rice - I halved the usual cooking time (just follow what it says on the packet in my case it was 6 minutes) I added the diced carrots and cooked together as they need to be part cooked or they will stay raw when you bake the byriani later

3. when the rice has had its time ( you want it white but still grainy when you bite into it) drain and run under the cold tap to rinse and stop the cooking process - put in a large bowl

4. dice the courgette and add to the rice bowl, add the peas, spinach and any other veg you fancy - try and make the chopped veg a similar size. add the curry paste I used a generous table spoon. add the coconut milk and quorn (or chicken or tofu) mix together, you want to coat everything but dont want a runny sauce, set aside

rest
Set aside mixture until needed

Remove the butternut squash from the oven, let it cool slightly then cut in half length ways.
cooked & roasted butternut squash cut in half lengthways
 I usually hate prepping squash as peeling it and getting the seeds out is too much, this method is marvellous. simply scoop out the seeds. and scoop enough of the flesh out to form a well - add this to the bowl of ingredients.

spoon it all into the squash - I piled it quite high (I had some left over so I popped it in a small dish and cooked it on its own)

I added toasted  dessicated coconut and coconut shavings - this us optional I just had it so used it



Bake in a moderate oven (180 or gas mark 5) for 30 - 40 minutes.

serve with yogurt, or as it is either way its very nommy