Bengali butternut squash with chickpeas Archive

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• large pinch ground asafoetida
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp panch phoran (a blend of equal quantities of fenugreek, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, cumin and mustard seeds), available from Asian supermarkets, also known as Bengali five-spice
• 1-2 mild dried red chillies
• 1 small onion, chopped
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 2 level tsp ground cumin
• 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ginger paste (available from Asian supermarkets, or make your own by crushing or blending fresh ginger to a rough paste, adding water if necessary to loosen)
• 500g/1lb 2oz butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, flesh cut into 4cm/1½in cubes
• 200ml/7fl oz boiling water
• 200g/7oz canned chickpeas, drained and washed
• 1 tsp ground garam masala
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
• salt, to taste
• sugar, to taste