Our semi-suburban apartment building is situated right behind a popular local Indian restaurant.
Although our apartment itself doesn’t smell like the Indian fare cooked a few dozen feet away, (this is probably a good thing), we do often catch whiffs of the fragrant aromas when walking Shelby outside in the backyard.
Rich, spicy, and intoxicating, the scent of curry never fails to leave me craving Indian food.
I’m not well-versed in cooking Indian cuisine at home, but curry powder I can handle.
There are many varieties of curry powders available for purchase on stores’ shelves, but I recommend opting for Madras curry powder.
In this recipe, I liberally sprinkled Madras curry powder onto butternut squash and roasted ’em into crazy-delicious fries.
On a whim, I attempted to make homemade curried ketchup using unseasoned tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, and curry powder… but it just didn’t do it for me. I settled on regular ol’ organic Trader Joe’s ketchup with Madras curry powder mixed in & sprinkled on top.
Done and done.
Although not super crispy, these fries are seriously addictive.
I’ve tried many techniques for crispy homemade sweet potato fries (soaking them in water prior to baking, coating them with egg white, coating them with cornstarch or arrowroot powder…) all with semi-successful results, (nothing seems to get them über-crisp), so I think I’ll try one of those methods with these butternut squash fries the next time a curry craving strikes…
… which will most likely be very soon given the fact that temptation lurks literally in front of me every day!
Curried Butternut Squash Fries
Printer-Friendly Recipe
yield: 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash
- 2 tsp virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp Madras curry powder (or more, to taste – I probably used more like 2 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Cut the bulbous end off of the butternut squash; reserve for another use.
- Peel the remaining oblong-shaped squash. Cut into planks (about 1/2 inch thick) and then into fry shapes (about 1/2 inch wide).
- Toss squash strips with melted coconut oil, curry powder, salt and pepper.
- Arrange on a baking sheet, making sure not to crowd them. Bake for 25-30, turning once, or until golden brown and crisp on the edges.
- Serve with curry powder-spiked ketchup, if desired.
