Burmese Golden Pumpkin Curry (Shwe Hpayone-thi Chet)
I’m one of those terrible carnivores and I strongly believe in the (semijoking) Burmese affliction of a-thar ma-sar yat-de yaw-ga i.e. ‘the illness caused by the failure to eat meat’. However, if this gorgeous pumpkin curry is on the table, for once I’ll barely twitch. You can use any winter squash you like – it’s very good made with kabocha squash or crown prince. If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, you can swap out the shrimp paste and fish sauce for an equal amount of Japanese miso.
Servings 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side
Ingredients
- 90 ml groundnut oil or other neutral-tasting oil
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 8 fresh or dried curry leaves
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 spring onion, green and white parts, shredded
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 butternut or kabocha squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (belacan)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika and curry leaves to the oil and allow to sizzle for a few seconds.
- Now turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, spring onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 10 minutes, until fragrant and the onions have wilted and some have crisped up.
- Add the squash, sugar, shrimp paste and 300ml of water. Stir well. Cover and cook for 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the fish sauce, stir again and serve with steamed rice.