Butternut Squash, Butterbean & Chicken Curry

A good one pot curry recipe isn’t something to be taken lightly, and this Chicken Thigh Curry with Butternut Squash and Butterbeans is a one pot delight.

 Spicy and full of vegetables, it has enough in the pot to keep me interested and enough spice to make me want to mop it up.

 Cooking the chicken thighs until the skin is a deep golden colour and each piece is piping hot by the bone, makes be very happy indeed.

Another way for me to enjoy chicken – in case you’d not heard, I am chickens’ number one fan!

 Check out the tip box before you start cooking your curry, there are a few tips that might help, but apart from that, get cracking and give your taste buds a treat.

 Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!

Serve straight from the pot

What You Need

•  6 Chicken Thighs – Skin on

• 1 Butternut Squash – Peeled, seeds removed and cut into medium chunks.

• 300ml Vegetable Stock using 2 Stock Cubes

• 120ml Greek Yoghurt or Double Cream

• 1 x 400g Tin of Chopped Tomatoes

• 1 x 400g Tin of Butterbeans - Drained

• 1 Large Red Pepper – De-seeded and chopped into medium pieces

• 1 Large Onion – Peeled and chopped into small pieces

• 4-6 tbsp Strong Curry Powder or Curry Paste – See Tip Box

• 4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

• Salt & Pepper

Chop the vegetables around the sam e size.

 How It’s Done

•  Put the vegetable oil into a large, high sided, heavy bottomed saucepan and let it heat up on a medium heat.

• Once the oil is hot, place the chicken thighs, skin side down, into the pan, and let them cook undisturbed until the skin becomes crispy and golden brown – 10-15 minutes – See Tip Box

• Once the skin is golden, remove the thighs from the pot onto a plate and set them aside until needed.

• Place the pieces of butternut squash, chopped onion and chopped red pepper into the pan along with some salt and pepper, and let it cook for around 10 minutes, until the squash starts to go brown and the onion starts to go translucent.

• Put the curry powder into the pot and stir it through the vegetables.

• Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Pour in the vegetable stock, tinned tomatoes and give it a really good stir to mix everything up.

• Sit the chicken on top of the vegetables, the chicken should be skin side up.

• Let the chicken cook, on a low to medium heat, until it is piping hot all the way through – around 30 minutes – See Tip Box

• Stir the pot every few minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so the curry doesn’t burn.

• Once the chicken has cooked, remove it again to a clean warm plate, until needed.

• Tip the drained butterbeans into the pot along with the Greek yoghurt and give it a good stir.

• Put the chicken thighs back in to the pot, skin side up, and let it cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat.

• Serve straight from the pot.

Add the butterbeans and the Greek yoghurt

 Tip Box

•  Curry Powder – Which strength of curry powder or paste is up to you. I use a strong curry powder, but whichever you use, give it a taste. It’s always possible to add more.

• Cooking the Curry Powder - It’s important to cook the curry powder for a few minutes before adding the liquid element.

Cooking the powder helps to release the oils and enhances the flavour, it also stops the curry having a gritty powdery taste.

• Chicken Skin – 1) The chicken skin is better crispy and golden, so when sitting it back on top of the vegetables, make sure it’s skin side up.

2) To achieve a golden chicken skin, be patient and don’t move it around. Once the skin is ready, it will lift away from the bottom of the pot easily, without tearing the skin.

• Cooking the Chicken – The chicken should be cooked all the way through to the bone before eating, so make sure to test it before serving.

Brown skinnup.