Chicken and squash curry is a simple dish, a whole roast chicken with a spicy difference. Ideal for busy families on the go as this is an entire meal in one pot.
Chicken & squash curry is a great dinner, feeding the family but cooked in one pot. I think about food a lot and the inspiration to cook can come from a variety of places.
More often than not the notion of a good recipe comes from talking about food. The idea for this dish came after a couple of our followers cooked one of our recipes and said how much they had enjoyed it.
These followers are both busy parents who like the convenience of an all in one dish. The kind of dish that you can leave cooking away in the oven whilst you get on with other things.
One pot chicken & squash curry:
So I set myself the challenge of coming up with an all in one simple chicken dish. A complete meal that can be cooked in one pot in the oven, enough to serve a family of 4.
What I came up with was this chicken and squash curry. Although it looks like a long list of ingredients its really very simple to cook this chicken and squash curry. More of an assembly job than anything else.
Can I cook this curry in my slow cooker?
It was also important that the recipe for this chicken and squash curry could be easily adapted for cooking in a slow cooker. Make up the paste and assemble as you would if cooking it in a pot in the oven.
The only thing you would need to adapt is the length of cooking time. Cook it for as long as you would normally when cooking a whole chicken in your devise.
Why buy free-range chicken?
I always buy a good free-range chicken. As well as well fare considerations, these birds contain significantly less water and that is perfect for this simple chicken and squash curry dish. This results in far less shrinkage when you cook the bird and don’t get me started on the improved flavour!
How can I adapt the chilli heat in chicken & squash curry?
My family devoured this chicken and squash curry when I made it. It’s aromatic and warmly spiced, but isn’t full of chilli heat, making it ideal to serve up to children.
Chillies:
If you want more chilli heat then simply add more chillies and don’t bother to de-seed them. Likewise leave chillies out entirely if you would prefer. We served this with a dressing of our Green Chutney, mixed with some natural yoghurt.
Recipe substitutions:
This simple chicken and squash curry has added butternut squash and potatoes in the pot. However, you can add any other vegetables to the dish, get creative!
- pumpkin
- carrot
- parsnip
- onion
- beetroot
- bell peppers
- courgette
- aubergine
Additional recipe suggestions:
If you like this recipe for chicken & butternut squash curry then try our:
- Easy Chickpea & Spinach Curry
- Butter Chicken Curry
- Authentic Thai Green Chicken Curry
- Indian Cottage Pie
- Lamb & Spinach Curry
Looking for inspiration for feeding the family mid week, then take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Family Dinners. Full of useful hints, tips and recipes.
one pot chicken & squash curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp ground coriander (heaped)
- 1 tsp ground cumin (heaped)
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
- salt and pepper
- 400 g tin plum tomatoes
- 1 Knorr chicken stockpot
- 200 ml water
- 1 butternut squash (deseeded and cut into chunks, leaving the skin on)
- 500 g new potatoes (cut into 2.5cm chunks, leaving skin on)
- 1.3 kg whole chicken
- paste
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 cm fresh ginger
- 1 red finger chilli (deseeded)
- 1 large bunch fresh coriander (both leaves and stalks)
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Place all the paste ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a fine consistency. In a large heavy based casserole dish (one with a tight fitting lid) heat up the oil, add the paste and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the dry spices to the pan and continue to saute for a further minute or two until they release their aroma. Season with salt and pepper. Remove half the mixture from the pan and place in a separate bowl for use at a later stage.
- Add the tomatoes, water and chicken stock pot to the pan and stir to combine.
- Add the potatoes and butternut squash to the pan, coating well in the curry sauce and place the chicken in the saucepan. You may have to move some of the vegetables up the sides, so that the chicken fits into the pan.
- Make a couple of pockets between the chicken skin and the chicken meat, taking care not to tear the skin. Take the paste that was removed at Stage 2 of the recipe and gently push the paste into the pockets, finally use any remaining paste and spread over the top of the chicken.
- Place the lid on the casserole and place the chicken in a preheated oven at 180CFan and cook for 1 hour. Remove the lid from the casserole and put the casserole back into the oven for a further 30 minutes so that the chicken will brown and the skin crisp up.
- Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10 minutes. After resting, slice up the chicken and serve immediately with the rest of the vegetables.
Notes
• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
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