Summer Squash Curry, Shellfish Optional

Summer Squash Curry, Shellfish Optional
Evan Sung for The New York Times
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(486)
Notes
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This simple stew of fresh summer squash is delicious and beautiful, with a mixture of shapes and colors. Look for small zucchini, pattypan, crookneck, gold bar and other types. The optional addition of mussels and squid makes it more of a meal, but a vegetarian version is just as satisfying.

Featured in: How to Spot (and Use) the Best Summer Squash

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • Coconut oil
  • 1onion, chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1teaspoon grated garlic
  • 1tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1serrano or bird’s-eye chile pepper, finely chopped
  • 1tablespoon turmeric
  • 1tablespoon fish sauce or light soy sauce
  • Zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 1can coconut milk (about 13.5 ounces)
  • 2pounds small summer squash, cut in 1-inch cubes, slices or wedges
  • 1cup shelled peas (optional)
  • 2pounds mussels (optional)
  • 1pound squid (optional)
  • Mint leaves, for garnish
  • Basil leaves, for garnish
  • Cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

457 calories; 25 grams fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 1210 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Melt 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened without browning, about 5 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add garlic, ginger, chile, turmeric, fish sauce (or soy sauce, for vegetarians) and lime zest and juice, stir, and cook for an additional minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add summer squash and peas, if using, and cook gently until just tender but still firm, about 5 minutes more. Turn off the heat.

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile, if using mussels and squid, put 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a soup pot over high heat. Add mussels, stir, and cover. When mussels begin to open, after 3 or 4 minutes, add squid, stir and cook, covered, for 2 minutes more. Turn off heat. (Skip this step for a vegetarian version of the recipe.)

  5. Step 5

    Transfer squash and sauce to a deep, wide serving dish or divide among large soup bowls. If using, scatter mussels and squid over the top. Garnish with mint, basil and cilantro.

Ratings

5 out of 5
486 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

"Curry" isn't a thing. It's a generic term for a range of spice and chile mixtures. Ginger, garlic, and turmeric, as in this recipe is more of a southeast Asian curry. Cumin, coriander, and turmeric are the core of many Indian curries. "Curry powder" is an invention of Europeans.

Where's the curry in this recipe for "Summer Quash Curry?

the combination of garlic, ginger, chile and turmeric make it a perfectly valid curry dish.

This dish is quite good. My local market had neither squid nor mussels so I substituted shrimp. Super easy - just add the shrimp to the broth about 5 minutes before finishing the dish. We served this over rice noodles which seemed appropriate as the dish was soupy. With a side salad it was quite a nice weeknight meal.

Didn't have it with shellfish, and I think it would have added a lot to the dish. Dish was okay, but would be easy to make for a weeknight meal with rice. Probably very good for lunch leftovers.

If you leave out the seafood, you have a much diminished dish that needs something to add substance, I think. I suggest adding cubed paneer, which have been sautéed (to firm up and slightly crisp edges) or lightly baked before adding. With the paneer, the peas would be essential, IMO.

David - An outstanding summer receipe. It fit the Times' effort to bring seasonal foods to the reader's table. My minor modifications included additional seafood, (Bay scallups, shrimp) along with the suggested. (I went with New Zealand Green mussels). My market had Lobster mushrooms so I chopped two into the curry, and served with fresh Thai basil, mint and cilantro.

Everyone raved. Once again an excellent NYT meal. Leftovers tomorrow over rice noodles and additional English peas.

I used string beans instead of peas and that worked fairly well. If I did this again, I would steam or parboil the veggies before adding to the curry because I prefer them a bit softer, and cooking gently for ~5 minutes leaves them a bit too firm for my liking. I ended up cooking for maybe 15 minutes, and I think I lost some of the zestiness of the sauce by cooking too long. Still very good though!

I didn't add any seafood as I was making this as a side dish for dukkah-crusted chicken, and wow was this delicious! So easy! I can't wait to try it with mussels!

This dish was fantastic...so many layers of flavor! I added shrimp and ended up cooking the mussles in the sauce, and threw the squid in as directed. Besides the addition of kaffir lime leaves and a pinch of brown sugar, I followed this as written. I will definitely make this again! Thanks David!

This was really good. I added some baby eggplant, fried them up with the onions and they were super tasty. Keeping that in mind, might be good to fry the squash up right after the onions have browned next time.

Used summer squash and snap peas, along with shrimp (added w broth) - veg simmered for 10 mins, extra 10 for shrimp

I made this last night as a vegan dish (no fish). We liked it. I doubled the garlic and probably could have added more. Next time will add more ginger and black pepper. I used fresh summer squash from our garden and peas. Next time I will either lightly steam or sauté the squash before adding to the recipe. Since I cooked it like the recipe, it was pretty crunchy. Also will also try some sweet peppers from the garden in it next time.

We found this pretty bland. Not a disaster but would not make again. The Thai-style mussels recipe in Melissa Clark’s book “Dinner” is one of our all-time favorites, and I was hoping to capture some of those flavors while simultaneously getting through 2lbs of CSA yellow squash, but no dice. Maybe the squash just throws off too much water?

I made the recipe with a few variations that I feel added to the dish. - I used Mae Ploy curry paste instead of the listed spices. This is the real game changer. - I added ginger and garlic in addition to the curry paste - I used peas and summer squash for my veg - I used about a pound of raw shrimp for my seafood protein - served this with rice noodles. Fantastic, 10/10, will make again.

Delicious! I didn’t have shellfish and it was delicious. I used a bag of frozen edamame instead of peas. I would recommend to prep all the ingredients before you start cooking because it goes really fast once you get started. I will definitely made this again.

Excellent flavours. Made with mussels. I simplified by making everything in one pot, by adding the mussels a minute or so after adding the summer squashes. Delicious.

I've made it twice. First time, per (vegetarian) recipe was "meh." Second time, I doubled all of the seasonings (including lime juice/zest and fish sauce), and topped it with a few leftover cooked 16-20 shrimp. Much, much better. It does need some kind of protein...tofu, paneer, chicken, pork, or seafood, to give some body.

I used only 1.5 pounds of squash (fresh from farmer’s market), and it was still far too much. Included the peas. Grilled the seafood. Still very bland overall, disappointing compared to many other far better curry recipes from NYT.

Cooked as written using yellow summer squash and a patty pan squash and added the peas. It was good - especially the sauce - but we thought it was missing something. Will make again but add potatoes. In winter, we may swap out the squashes for cauliflower

I was surprised at how unexpectedly fabulous this recipe was this evening. Unexpected guests added a little stress to the timing of making sure the squash wasn’t overcooked but the mussels were cooked enough, & that the naan was toasty right then too, but it all worked out, yay! Here’s what I modified: subbed snow peas for peas, added a tiny bit of sugar & some red bell pepper, didn’t include squid. Yummy, thank you.

I will never have too many squash again! I've cooked this twice using vegetarian alternatives. I wanted to add a protein the 2nd time, so I dared to toss in a cup of cooked butter beans and they and they make a fine addition without altering taste. It's important not to overcook the squash so that the pieces retain their crunch.

I had never cut or cooked squid at home before and so I googled/youtubed what to do with my fish market purchases and highly recommend: "how to clean and cut a whole squid" by becky selengut on youtube. This recipe is great, but it took me much longer than 45 mins because I had never cooked mussels or squid before. this is a weekend recipe. not sure what possessed me to try this on a Monday night! it is delicious though.

A lovely, Spring-like dish. We made it with mussels (steamed) and no squid. Served over rice.

- add protein. Tofu or boiled egg

I made this last night and it was pretty good. One juiced lime was too much and made the curry pretty sour. added some brown sugar and a little green curry paste to offset the flavor. Next time I will add the mussels and squid to the curry to soak up some of that flavor, serving the steamed ones on top was pretty bland.

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