Plant-Based Caribbean Coconut & Squash Curry

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Jasmine

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Growing up, my experience of Jamaican food was pretty meat-centric, so when I stopped eating meat as a child I felt it probably wasn’t for me. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! The Ital diet in Jamaica followed within the Rastafarian movement is vegetarian and focuses on whole foods and organic produce that’s often foraged. Whilst I’m not quite there in terms of self-sufficiency, the first two are exactly what I’m trying do. Curry was brought to the Caribbean by indentured servants brought by the British from India to the West Indies to replace ex slaves and of course it was adapted to local tastes, traditions and produce and of course I love Indian food as a non meat eater, so I thought we’d make ourselves a plant-based Caribbean style curry today!

INGREDIENTS

Roasted vegetables:

Squash or pumpkin (I used butternut squash)

Red pepper

Okra

Aromatic and curry ingredients:

Coconut oil

Garlic

Shallot

Scotch bonnet chilli (see notes)

Carrot

Vegetable stock

Coconut milk / light coconut milk (you may just need to cook down light coconut milk for slightly longer)

Kale (or any other leafy green)

Finishing ingredients:

Fresh thyme

Spring onion

Serving suggestions:

I went for simple brown rice

TIPS & NOTES

I’ve used butternut squash in this recipe as Caribbean style pumpkin can be hard to find in the UK and butternut squash season has begun, so it made sense to reach for an approximate equivalent!

It’s a little bit more effort but I do recommend oven roasting some of the ingredients separately to cook the squash thoroughly and also to get rid of some of that slimy texture that okra can have.

Whilst it’s a mortal sin to use curry powder in Indian curries due to the fact they’re typically random blends that don’t take into account the vast diversity of cooking techniques (such as blooming whole spices) and flavours across the Indian subcontinent (ironically, they’re really only good for bringing a vague kick to things that aren’t curries, such as if you want to spruce up your homemade fries), it’s actually pretty typical to use a curry powder in Caribbean cooking. Caribbean curries have quite a distinct flavour so picking a Caribbean curry powder can bring that vibe to your dish without you having the perfectly balance the combination of different spices yourself.

I blended up some of my butternut squash within the curry itself but you can still make this without a blender, just reduce the amount of water in the dish by combing the stock cube into the coconut milk and ensure you chop your squash nice and small.

One final note on the scotch bonnet; this is the traditional chilli pepper used in Caribbean curries, and the size and spice level of them can really vary. I personally used a whole one which offered a medium spice level – if you aren’t sure then I recommend just using half and / or removing the seeds and white stem. If you don’t like spice at all, I’d imagine you’re not reading this recipe…

Squash & Coconut Caribbean Plant-Based Curry

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

a simple but flavour-packed plant-based Caribbean-style curry

Blender required, advance prep needed


Ingredients

  • 1/2 a butternut squash (peeled, half cut into slices and half into cubes)
  • 1 carrot (peeled and chopped into small chunks)
  • 1 red pepper (cut into small batons)
  • 50g of okra (cut into slices lengthways and then halved down the centre)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (grated, crushed or finely chopped)
  • 1 shallot (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 – 1 Scotch bonnet chilli (see notes) (finely chopped)
  • 15g of coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp Caribbean curry powder
  • 1 tin (400g) of coconut milk
  • 1 vegetable stock cube (dissolved in 150-200ml of boiling water immediately prior to use)
  • 2 sprigs of thyme (de-stemmed)
  • 40g of kale (roughly chopped)
  • 1 spring onion (sliced at an angle)
  • Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C
  2. Add the butternut squash to a roasting dish, add half of the coconut oil and a third of the Caribbean curry powder, season with salt and pepper and toss together to combine – oven roast for around 25 minutes until cooked through and soft
  3. After 15 minutes, add the okra and red pepper, a sprinkle more of the curry powder, additional salt and pepper and return to the oven
  4. In a wide-based lidded pan over a medium heat, add the remaining coconut oil, the shallot, garlic, chilli and carrot, season with salt and pepper and add all of the remaining curry powder – stir and sauté for 5-10 minutes
  5. Prepare the vegetable stock and add the coconut milk to the pan, add the vegetable stock once ready, stir and cover to cook down the curry
  6. Remove the oven dish from the oven once cooked and add half of the butternut squash (the cubes) to the pan
  7. Either use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender to combine the contents of the oven dish into a creamy curry base – add some of the remaining butternut squash if it needs thickening up, but be sure to save some to add in whole
  8. If using a separate blender, pour the curry back into the pan and add the reserved whole slices of squash, red pepper and okra
  9. Reduce the heat and simmer the curry covered for 5-10 minutes to bring the flavours together
  10. Add the kale and cover to steam through for a further 5 minutes
  11. Serve topped with the spring onion slices and a side of your choice

I’d love to know if you try my Caribbean style curry!

Check out the video here:

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