This is a dish that I read about in the New York Times food section, called Chicken and Pumpkin. The original dish had dumplings and used pumpkin, it looked delicious so I decided to give my own spin on it, using Red Kuri Squash and rice.
Here are the ingredients you need to gather:
- 1 whole chicken, broken down into parts
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon tumeric powder
- 2 cups of Red Kuri Squash, peeled and cubed
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups of coconut milk
- rice
You will need a large heavy bottom pot. I used my dutch oven. Start by tossing your chicken pieces in the flour. Heat the oil in the dutch oven and add the parts, being careful not to over crowd the pot. Brown the chicken, about 2 minutes on each side.
While the chicken is browning you can prep your squash. I used only about a quarter of the red kuri I had, it is a huge one! Remove the seeds (saving to toast up later) and peel the skin off carefully with a sharp knife.
Give the squash a rough chop.
Clean and chop the celery stalks into large chunks as well.
When all of the chicken has been browned and been put on a plate, it is time for the veggies to go into the pot.
Keep in mind, the brown “crud” on the bottom of the pan is what you are looking for, this is all flavor. Cook the veggies for two minutes or so with the salt, tumeric, and ginger.
Add about a cup of the chicken stock and use a spoon to gently scrape off the bottom crust, or in other words, deglaze the pan. When all of the flavorful bits are removed, add the chicken pieces back into the pot.
Add the remaining stock into the pot.
Add two cups of coconut milk to the pot as well.
Cover the pot and let that simmer for 15-20 minutes. At this point I made my rice on the stovetop.
I placed rice on the bottom of the bowl, added the shredded chicken and some veggies on top. Spoon broth into the bowl. I liked shredding the chicken and then adding it to the bowl, but my husband liked the whole pieces with bones and all in his bowl. This was flavorful and I very much enjoyed the bit of sweetness the Red Kuri squash brings to the dish. I will totally be making this one again. Enjoy!