Chicken and Squash

A butternut squash roasted in half-moons and finished with lime-slackened miso, alongside 1.6 kg of chicken seared in batches into a coconut and Kashmiri chili sauce

· 1h 25m start to finish · experimental chicken supper

One squash

Cut into neck and bulb, then peeled with the knife rather than a peeler, since the skin is thick enough to fight a peeler and the flat sides that come off make the piece sit still on the board

start A butternut squash cut into neck and bulb on the counter beside the board and knife +1 min The skin coming off a standing section in long strips +3 min A peeled section on the board, peel piled at the back

Split, seeds and fibre scooped out with a spoon

+5 min The bulb halved, seeds in one half, the other already scooped

Then across into half-moons, one thickness for the whole lot so they finish together

+8 min One section still whole, the other sliced into a row of even half-moons

Salted, then drained

Salt over the slices at 20:57, drained at 21:19. What comes out is water the oven would otherwise have to boil off before any browning starts

+10 min Salt poured from the box over sliced squash in a white bowl +12 min The bowl of salted planks +33 min The bowl tipped over the sink, orange liquid running out

Ghee melted and poured straight into the same bowl, then tossed

+40 min Liquid ghee poured over the drained slices in the bowl

1.6 kg of chicken

Breast, trimmed and cut into chunks small enough that a piece cooks through in the time its outside takes to colour, then salted on the board

+16 min Whole chicken breasts on the board with the knife +19 min The breasts cut into chunks +21 min Salt going over the cut chunks

Three batches

Ghee into the steel pan on 9

+25 min Ghee melting in the steel pan, dial reading 9

A third of the chicken at a time, spread out with gaps. This is the slow part and the one worth not rushing: everything that goes on the plate here is the fond the sauce is built on later

+28 min The first batch of chicken laid out in the pan with space between pieces +33 min The same batch coloured, browned scraps stuck to the pan +35 min Raw chicken going in for the next batch, the cooked pile waiting on a plate
+43 min The last batch in the pan, the plate now most of the way full +51 min The emptied pan, brown fond across the base, all the chicken on the plate

Trays in

Two trays, single layer, gaps between the pieces. One squash overran even that, so a bowl stayed behind on the counter

+44 min Two parchment-lined trays of squash going into the oven, a bowl of leftover slices on the counter

The base

Onion into the fat and the fond, dial down to 5, cooked until it went slack and translucent

+31 min Onion diced on the board, two halves still to go +54 min The dice tipped into the pan +59 min The onion softened and glassy, dial reading 5

Garlic and ginger both chopped rather than grated, so they stay findable in the finished sauce

+47 min Peeled garlic cloves and a chopped pile on the board +54 min Ginger chopped fine +61 min Garlic and ginger in a well in the middle of the onion

Colour

Tomato paste first, then the Kashmiri chili, which is a colour spice before it is a heat spice and needs a minute in hot fat to give either

+65 min Tomato paste squeezed from the tube into the onion +66 min Kashmiri chili powder shaken in from the bag

Coriander and cumin cracked in the mortar instead of taken from a jar, turmeric after

+68 min Coriander seed and cumin seed side by side in the mortar +69 min The ground spice added to the reddened onion +69 min Turmeric on top

Coconut and chicken

Two cans in, then all three batches back on top of it with whatever the plate had collected, and the fond comes up off the base

+72 min Coconut cream poured from a measuring cup into the spiced onion +74 min The chicken back in, sauce still pale +75 min Lid on, dial reading 7

Out

Edges caught, centres still firm

+64 min Both trays in the oven, the slices starting to take colour +75 min The finished tray, brown patches across the slices

Miso and lime

White miso let down with lime juice until it pours. Tested on one slice before any of it went near the plate

+79 min A lime half in the juicer, white miso in a small blue bowl +80 min A spoonful of the thinned miso on a single roasted slice

Plate

Cilantro over the chicken, lime over everything

+85 min Lime squeezed over the plated chicken and squash

+85 min Roasted squash under miso beside the chicken in its coconut sauce, cilantro on top

Recipe

Roasted squash with lime miso

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
1Butternut squashPeel, seed, slice into half-moons, add to bowl1
SaltOver bowl1, rest 20 min, drain
GheeMelt, pour over bowl1, toss, spread on two trays, roast until edges catch
White misoSlacken with lime juice, spoon over at the table
LimeJuice into the miso, keep the rest for the plate

Kashmiri coconut chicken

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
1.6 kg3.5 lbChicken breastCut into chunks, salt
GheeMelt in a wide pan on high, sear the chicken in three batches, set aside
300 g2 largeOnionDice, cook in the fat on medium until translucent
32.5 g6-7 clovesGarlicChop, add to the onion
32.5 gGingerChop, add to the onion
64 g4 tbspTomato pasteStir in, cook a minute
10.5 g4 tspKashmiri chiliStir in, cook a minute
3.5 g2 tspCoriander seedCrack in the mortar, add
4 g2 tspCumin seedCrack in the mortar, add
3 g1 tspTurmericAdd
800 ml2 cansCoconut creamPour in, return the chicken, cover, simmer
CilantroOver the chicken
LimeCut fresh, over everything at the table

Commentary, extra notes

  • The crisped edges are the point of the squash. Salting and draining first is what buys them, and the slices that came off the tray softest were the ones that had sat thickest
  • Lime and miso together read as a cold sauce on a hot vegetable, and that contrast is most of why the plate works. Both go on at the table, not into the pan
  • Rice would carry this sauce better than squash does. The squash brings its own sweetness and competes; rice takes the sauce and gets out of the way. Both on the plate is the version to cook next