Curry w/ Broccoli, Squash, Fried Tofu, & Guinness
This Guinness curry combines a sort of Wisconsin beer cheese soup with a Thai-inspired curry for a delectable mix of wintry favorites. It consists of roasted ambercup squash, ginger, shallots, garlic, Guinness, coconut milk, and an assortment of nutmeg, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Skillet (preferably cast iron)
- Stovetop
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
- 2 c. ambercup squash roasted & puréed
- 1 tbsp. ginger minced
- 1 ½ shallot minced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- dash nutmeg
- dash cumin
- dash coriander
- dash cayenne
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 2 cans Guinness 12 oz
- 3 cans coconut milk
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- I used Ambercup Squash in this recipe. This takes a couple of hours and requires aluminum foil and a baking dish. I am a big fan of ambercup squash. It's a medium-sized variety with dense flesh and a lot of flavor. You can easily substitute butternut squash, pie pumpkin, or other gourd of choice.
Curry
- Add all of the ingredients, except for the carrots, potatoes, broccoli, and tofu (add all of the seasoning ingredients, but not the larger produce or tofu yet!).
- Simmer for at least 2-4 hours. You want the liquid to reduce in half. If it’s reducing too quickly, add water and turn down the temperature. If it isn’t reducing fast enough, bring to a boil again and reduce to a slightly higher temperature.The longer that you cook, the more the flavors will permeate the ingredients, so simmering at a lower temperature for longer is always an option. I’ll sometimes lower the temperature to a very light simmer and pretty much leave it be for 6-8 hours.
Fry Tofu
- Drain the tofu and cut in half if you're using a container. Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
- Meanwhile, preheat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet.
- Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
- Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Serve
- Serve either immediately or the next day.Curry will continue to the absorb the spices the more time passes. It’s one of those dishes that I like to make ahead of time because it often tastes better after the flavors have had time to set overnight.