I wouldn’t be a proper blogger if I didn’t post a Halloween or pumpkin related post now would I? BTW if like me you wondered what the difference between pumpkins and squash is – there is none. Pumpkins are a squash.

I recently visited the School of Wok for a cooking workshop hosted by WORLDFOODS, a Bangkok based company that produce Asian ready-made pastes and sauces.  I do turn my nose up at most ready-made curry sauces but they promised authentic recipes with no fillers, additives or preservatives so I was keen to put that to the test.  The sauces are made in Thailand using locally sourced ingredients with no artificial colourings, flavourings and they’re also vegan and gluten-free.

Here’s one of the dishes we cooked up using the Thai Massaman curry paste.

RECIPE: MASSAMAN SQUASH CURRY (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free)

INGREDIENTS to serve 2 hungry hippos/4 servings:

Massaman butter:

• 1 tablespoon Massaman curry paste
• 25g coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Stuffing:

• 2 squash
• 1 thumb-piece of ginger grated
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 250g of spinach, cooked then drained
• 100g of paneer cheese crumbled (optional)
• 1 tablespoon Massaman curry paste
• Handful of chopped coriander

Massaman curry sauce:

• 2 tablespoons Massaman curry paste
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 400ml can coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons tamarind puree
• 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar

Garnish:

• 2 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts and coriander

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the Massaman butter and chill (the butter not you) until required.
2. Heat oven to 200ºC.
3. Scoop out the flesh of the squash and lightly fry it with the garlic and ginger then take off the heat and add the rest of the stuffing ingredients and mix.
4. Place the stuffing into the squash cavity. Pack it quite tightly.
5. Top with a knob of the Massaman butter and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
6. While the squash is in the oven, make the sauce.
7. Heat saucepan on medium heat then add the oil to the pan.
8. Add the Massaman curry paste to the pa and stir over a low heat until fragrant, this should take a minute or two.
9. Add the stock and simmer for three-four minutes until reduced by half.
10. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
11. Add the tamarind puree, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice and stir.
12. When the squash is cooked, serve with rice and the Massaman curry sauce. Sprinkle garnish on top.

This recipe can easily be made vegan by replacing the paneer with tofu and fish sauce with light soy sauce.

Thai Massaman curry paste, £1.89 available from WORLDFOODS at worldfoodsdirect.co.uk

For further information on School of Wok visit schoolofwok.co.uk