Butternut, tamarind and coconut stew from Ottolenghi Comfort (page 164) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh and Tara Wigley and Verena Lochmuller

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Accompaniments: Cumin and coriander flatbreads

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Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute dark brown muscovado sugar for jaggery.

  • nina_rilqer on April 10, 2026

    My onions took way longer to brown, and the butternut squash took longer to fully cook. It was fine but not remarkable.

  • Schooffiecooks on March 25, 2026

    Didn't like it. Way too sour.

  • Ldenmar on December 28, 2025

    Not having known of this website before a semi-disaster making this dish, I am pleased to have found it. If you add that much tamarind concentrate, which as Ganga108 said, seems like a variable thing depending on the product, the dish is ridiculously sour and turns a dark brown. We added cans of coconut milk to try to balance it. Anyway, I have found many more delicious ways to prepare a butternut squash soup and from now on will be much more careful following any recipe- but this is the first time I've had such a bad experience with a good cookbook author.

  • Astrid5555 on December 02, 2025

    Based on the other reviews used only one teaspoon of tamarind and 5 curry leaves instead of 5g and it was perfect for me. Added some red lentils together with the squash which made it more filling and nutritionally balanced. Very good!

  • sissle_v on June 06, 2025

    Way too much tamarind! Almost inedible. If I ever make this again, I’d put in 50ml max.

  • dinnermints on November 08, 2024

    This was good, but I was a little underwhelmed by it. On its own straight from the pot it was very flavorful, but once over rice, I found it unremarkable. And I should have gone with my gut and cut the squash into smaller pieces. I'm sure the intent was to not overcook the squash and have it melt into the dish, but as a result of the bigger pieces, the texture of the squash was a bit grainy and of course there was less surface area for the rest of the stew to cling to. Ganga108's note was helpful re: amount of curry leaves; 5g IS a ton. In the NYT version, Ottolenghi calls for around 17 curry leaves. Anyhoo, not sure if I'd make this again.

  • Ganga108 on September 15, 2024

    Recipe requires 80 mins cooking time, although the time to cook my pumpkin was 25 rather than 45 mins (home grown, might make a difference).

  • Ganga108 on September 15, 2024

    Not bad for a first cook from Comfort. But I never trust Ottolenghi's use of Indian ingredients, so I made the following adjustments. (But note he is balancing sweet, sour and curry leaf flavours. Even still...) >> 5g fresh curry leaves is A LOT for a dish, about 5 times as much as needed (I picked and weighed them). Too many curry leaves can add bitterness to a dish. Use 1 branch (about 1g each) or 2-3 if you must. Note he doesn't say whether fresh or dried curry leaves - use less if using dried. >> There are so many tamarind concentrates of various strengths. The one I use recommends 1 tspn for 6 people. It is dark and sticky. I checked with a friend - theirs uses 60ml for 4 people. So check your particular concentrate. Nowhere near the 120ml specified in the recipe. It can be kept tart, and balanced with the sugar, but not so tart and discoloured that it spoils the flavour. I'd rather cut down on the sugar quite a bit.

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