Sui/Butternut Squash Stew: Beginner Series

How do you feel when somebody calls you or mails you to get the recipe of a dish that he/she had tasted 5 years back? That is what I did to my hubby's aunt for the Sui recipe!I happened to eat Sui, a South Canara dish made with pumpkins many years before at my hubby's aunt's place. I loved it so much & after few days I completely forgot about it. After around five long years, I recalled about that dish & immediately called his aunt for the recipe. She was kind enough to give the recipe. I have made this many times after getting the recipe from her.

Don't go by the complicated name. Sui is a very simple yet amazingly flavorful dish. It is a perfect example of less is more! I do not know why it is called so. May be I should check with her again! 

Generally Sui is made with pumpkin, but I replaced with Butternut Squash.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash: 3 cups, 1 inch cubed (peeled & de-seeded)

Water: 2 cups
Jaggery/Brown sugar: 1 to 1.5 tsp

Salt: According to taste

For spice paste:

Coconut: 3/4th cup
Raw rice: 1 tsp, optional (I did not add any!)

Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp

Green chillies: 2-3 nos
For tempering:
Cooking oil: 1 tsp, preferably coconut oil
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: a sting
Asafoetida/Hing: a pinch
For garnish:
Coriander leaves/cilantro: 1 tbsp, finely chopped (optional)

Method:

Boil the cubed squash in 2 cups of water. Cook until tender & yet firm.

Meantime, make a fine paste of the ingredients mentioned for the spice paste. Add few tablespoons of water to make a smooth paste.

When the squash is almost done, add in the spice paste, salt & jaggery.

Reduce the heat to medium & cook for another 5-7 mins, until the flavors set in. Remove from heat.
Prepare the tempering. Add oil to a small sauce pan, when oil is hot, throw in the mustard seeds followed by curry leaves. When leaves turn crisp, turn off the heat & add the asafoetida. Pour this tempering over the stew prepared & cover the stew with a lid. This is to ensure that the aroma of the tempering is held inside the stew

Let is sit for a minute or two. 
Garnish with coriander leaves & serve with rice or roti.

Notes:

• Adjust the consistency of the stew according to your needs.
• Rice is added for the spice paste to make the stew thick.
• If you feel the stew has turned thin, add 1.5 teaspoons of rice flour to 2 tbsp of water. Mix thoroughly & add it to the boiling stew. Reduced the heat to low & cook for another couple of minutes.