Butternut Squash Curry Recipe Recipe
A soothing and comforting North Indian Butternut Squash and Potato Curry hailing from Rajasthan, featuring winter squash and potatoes, using whole spices and ghee, served over fluffy basmati rice.
How to Make the Best Butternut Squash Curry Recipe
This Butternut Squash Curry is a traditional North Indian dish from the desert region of Rajasthan. Known locally as Aloo Kaddu, this comforting curry combines tender butternut squash and potatoes in a rich, aromatic sauce made with whole spices and ghee. The combination of warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves creates a deeply satisfying dish that’s perfect for cooler weather.
What sets this Rajasthani curry apart is the technique of blooming whole spices in ghee before adding the ground spices and vegetables. This method releases the essential oils from the spices and creates layers of complex flavor that you simply can’t achieve any other way. The yogurt adds a subtle tanginess that balances the earthiness of the squash and potatoes beautifully.
Serve this curry over fluffy basmati rice for a complete vegetarian meal that’s both nourishing and incredibly flavorful. The dish comes together in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for a weeknight dinner that feels special without requiring hours in the kitchen.
Butternut Squash Curry Recipe
A soothing and comforting North Indian Butternut Squash and Potato Curry hailing from Rajasthan, featuring winter squash and potatoes, using whole spices and ghee, served over fluffy basmati rice.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Whole Spices
Ground Spices
Instructions
Preparation
- Prep your winter squash and potatoes, making sure potatoes are cut a little smaller than squash so they cook evenly.
- Gather all your spices together—the cooking part will go fast.
Cooking
- In a large, heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet, heat the ghee over medium heat.
- Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, smashed cardamom pods (including shell), nigella seeds, mustard seeds, and fenugreek seeds. Sauté until they begin to crackle.
- Add the yogurt, chili powder, cumin, coriander, ground turmeric, and optional asafoetida powder. Fry for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato and its juices along with the lemon juice. Cook 2 minutes. Add water, salt and stir.
- Add the potatoes and the winter squash, give a stir, cover tightly and simmer gently 15-20 minutes until tender.
- Check for doneness. Continue simmering covered until potatoes are fork-tender, adding a splash more water to loosen up the flavorful sauce if needed.
- Give a final stir, taste for salt, adjusting to taste. Turn over onto a serving dish, scraping out all the goodies from the bottom of the pan.
- Serve with fluffy basmati rice.
Notes
- Cut the potatoes slightly smaller than the butternut squash so they cook at the same rate.
- Ghee absolutely makes this dish—you could substitute olive oil, but ghee is highly recommended.
- Black mustard seeds and green cardamom pods are preferred if available.
- For the fenugreek, you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves, adding them with the tomatoes.
