I love Jamaican Chicken Curry! So I thought, why not do a version without the chicken, since I always forget to etiher take out the chicken from the freezer to defrost, or I  don’t have time to pick it up. I love butternut squash because it’s so hearty, and it’s also so healthy. That, along with chickpeas would be perfect. Swap the chicken stock with vegetable stock or water and it can be a vegetarian dish. Authentically, scotch bonnet peppers would be used, but here I used finger chilies.

So here’s what I did!

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds toasted then ground

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion sliced

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp minced ginger

2 green finger chilies (seeded if you want)

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of  homemade Jamaican curry powder (or store bought)

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tomatoes, diced

1 medium squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

2 medium potatoes cubed and peeled

2 1/2 cups stock

1 cup of coconut milk

1 19 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Toast the cumin seeds in a pan on low heat until you can smell their fragrance. It doesn’t take too long.

2. Place the toasted cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle and grind to a powder. You can also use a coffee grinder.

3. In a pot, heat oil. Add onion and suate for 5 min. Add garlic, ginger, chilies, spices, salt and pepper.

4. Stir until spices coat the onions.

5. Add the tomatoes and stir for 1 min. Add the squash, potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered until squash and potatoes are tender, about 10-15 min. 

6. Add the coconut milk and chickpeas.

7. Serve over white rice. Enjoy!