butternut squash

Stewed Pumpkin or Pumpkin Talkari (takari) is definitely one of the easiest vegan dishes you’ll ever bless your tastebuds with. I have shared the Stewed Pumpkin With Salted Cod, Curry Pumpkin With Shrimp and back in 2012 we did the Stewed Pumpkin With Shrimp, this vegetarian version is still ranks as my fave.

You’ll Need…

2 tablespoon olive oil
7 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 lbs pumpkin (peeled, washed, sliced)
1 medium onion sliced
3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust)
1/2 Scotch Bonnet pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 cup water (optional)

Notes! May I recommend that you follow along with the video below as much more is discussed there. Traditionally you’ll find that people use a bit of ground roasted Geera (cumin) in the recipe, however I’m not a fan of cumin, so I don’t. Additionally, mom would always add a bit of prepared salted Cod (saltfish) or shrimp to her stewed pumpkin. Those recipes are available here on the website as well. I wanted to keep this version fully vegan/vegetarian.

IMPORTANT! If you’re making this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet your specific gluten free dietary requirements.

Peel, wash and slice the pumpkin. Yes, you may use your fav squash with similar results. My preference would be Butternut Squash if Caribbean (Calabaza) pumpkin is difficult to source.

Heat the oil in a deep pot on a medium flame, then add the olive oil followed by the garlic. Turn the heat down to low, then add the Caribbean Green Seasoning and cook for 3 minutes.

Turn the heat back up to medium and add the prepared pumpkin and stir well. This is when you’d add the water to help bring it to a boil. Add the salt, onion and Scotch Bonnet pepper. Remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handling such hot pepper. And use as much spicy pepper (any spicy pepper you like) as you can handle. Leave it out if ‘spicy’ is not your thing.

If you wanted to add a teaspoon of ground roasted cumin (geera) you may do so now. Alternatively you could have added a teaspoon of cumin seeds with the garlic at the start.

Mom was insistent that pumpkin is naturally sweet and didn’t need any sugar (when I told her what I was making for dinner with the last of the frozen buss up shut aka paratha roti she left before they left Canada for the winter). Yea, add the brown sugar now. Stir well, place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil you have two options, leave the lid on slightly ajar or as I did, remove it completely. Turn the heat to med/low and cook until everything breaks down. You will notice (as explained in the video) that the pumpkin will release a lot of natural liquid and according to my family, stewed pumpkin is judged on how dry (without burning) you get it at the end.

It will take between 35 and 45 minutes to get to the right texture and you will be required to stir it relatively often as the sugars will want to assist it in burning in the area directly above the flame source. Scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir.

In the pic above you’ll see how dry (yet creamy) my stewed pumpkin turned out (a spatula can stand upright). Taste and adjust the salt to your liking and you’re done.

Served with your favorite rice, Sada roti or as I do sometimes.. on it’s own! It’s that good! If you’re interested in a version of Stewed Pumpkin with slated Pigtails, drop a comment below and I’ll get to it soon.

You’re about to CHANGE your Curry Chicken game FOREVER! It’s ridiculous how simply adding roasted Butternut Squash (any squash will work) changes everyday curry chicken to something even more comforting and tasty. No, there’s no need to add coconut to this dish IMHO (I know there will be people asking).

You’ll Need…

3-4 lbs chicken
2 medium butternut squash (5-6 cups)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
4 tablespoon olive oil (divided)
3 tablespoon curry powder (divided)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 3/4 tablespoon salt (divided)
1/3 cup water for cooking curry
1 tomato (diced)
1 tablespoon black pepper (divided)
10 cloves garlic (divided)
1 small onion (diced)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (sliced)
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin (geera)
1 teaspoon anchar masala
1 1/2 cups water
1-2 tablespoon shado beni (chopped)

Note: use cilantro if you cannot get shado beni (culantro) and adjust the salt to your liking. Also (important) – if doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary requirements. Especially the Curry Powder you decide on using.

Peel, wash and cube the squash into 1 inch pieces. Then in a bowl, toss them with 2 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 tablespoon salt, 1/2 the black pepper, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 4 cloves garlic smashed and brown sugar. Then onto a roasting tray (single layer) and into the oven at 400 F.

As the squash roast off it’s time to marinate the chicken (cut, trim off excess fat and skin – wash with lemon juice and cool water – if you wash your chicken). With the chicken in a large bowl, add the remaining salt and black pepper, Caribbean Green Seasoning and tomato, then give it a good toss. Allow to marinate for an hour or 2 for best results.

Heat the remaining oil on a medium flame (heavy pot), followed by the onion, remaining garlic (smashed) and Scotch Bonnet pepper (use as much as you can handle, I like curry spicy). As you start seeing brown edges on the garlic and onion, add the remaining curry powder to the pan and mix well.

It will go darker (normal thing), add the 1/3 cup of water after 3-4 minutes and stir and scrape the bottom of the pot. This step cooks out the ‘rawness’ of the curry. Here’s where we’ll add the Anchar Masala and Roasted Cumin (geera) – stir well.

The goal now is to burn off that liquid we added, until we see the oil at the bottom of the pot that we started with. Can take 3-5 minutes.

It will be a thick paste! Now add the seasoned chicken to the pot (heat high) and stir well to coat each piece with that curry goodness.

Put the lid on, heat to medium and cook. (watch the video below if the descriptive text is a bit confusing)

35 minutes in the oven and the squash is good to come out. Set aside. (watch the video below to know why we roasted the squash)

6 minutes later, remove the lid off the pot and crank up the heat to high. We again want to burn off that natural liquid that sprouted. As its gone, add the water to the bowl you marinated the chicken in and move around to get any remaining marinade. Pour that 1 1/2 cups of water into the pot and bring back to a boil.

After cooking on medium for 4-5 minutes, it’s time to add the roasted squash to the pot. Be gentle as we don’t want to crush it.

Gently stir and cook for 4-5 minutes or until you have a gravy consistency you like. The squash will suck-up some of that gravy! Taste for salt and adjust, toss in the chopped Shado Beni (or cilantro). Turn off the heat as the residual heat in the pot will further thicken the gravy as it cools.

Absolutely one of the best curry dishes you’ll ever make/enjoy – guaranteed! Serve with Rice, Roti or if all fails… even basic sliced bread (smile).

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Discover the Secret to Perfectly Spiced Stewed Pumpkin – Flavorful and Healthy!

Curry Chicken With Butternut Squash.

Hi, I'm Chris.

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