Spaghetti Squash with Butter Chickpeas
Spaghetti squash smothered in a delicious makhani(butter) sauce and protein rich chickpeas that will make it a vegetarian star dish on your dinner menu.
Equipment
- 2 Half Sheet Pans
Ingredients
- 2 Whole Spaghetti Squash
- 3 cups Cooked Chickpeas
- 2 tablespoon Avocado/Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Butter or Vegan Butter
- 1 large Red Onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 lb Tomatoes washed and finely chopped
- ¾ cup Whole or Halved Unsalted Cashews
- 2 cups Water
- 4-5 cloves Garlic peeled and diced
- ½ inch Ginger roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon Cumin(Jeera) Seeds
- 3 Indian Green Chillis sub with Jalapeno or Anaheim peppers
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder sub with Paprika
- 2 ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- Handful of Cilantro washed and roughly chopped
- 3 - 4 teaspoon Salt adjust acc. to taste
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in hot water and keep aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Cut each of the spaghetti squash in half by cutting it vertically right in the middle. Scoop out the seeds. Brush the insides with the avocado/olive oil. Season lightly with salt. Place the squash halves with the open face down on the sheet pan and place in the oven.
- Let cook for 40-45 minutes and remove from the oven to let it cool down. While the squash is being cooked, heat a medium sized frying pan and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the cumin seeds. Wait for the seeds to splutter and then add the chopped onions.
- Saute the onions well and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.Add the drained cashews to the pan along with the garlic, ginger and green chillis.Keep sauteing for 5 minutes until the cashews are browned.
- Add the tomatoes. Then add the powdered spices and season with 2 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and let this mixture cook for a minute. Heat 1 ½ cups of water and add to this mixture. Mix well and let this mixture simmer for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat. Let this mixture cool down for 15-20 minutes.
- Once cool, add this mixture to a blender and blend until the micture is completely smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more water.This should yield around 4 cups. Keep aside.
- Check the squash and once it has cooled down, use a fork to gently dig in. Pull up the strands and fluff them up. Do this evenly while leaving a thin layer of the squash still attached to the skin.
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Now add ½-3/4 cup cooked chickpeas on top of the fluffed "spaghetti" strands. Top with around ¾ cup of the makhani sauce for each half.
- Place in the oven and let it bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let ti cool down for minutes. Gently mix the chickpeas and makhani sauce. Top with the remaining ¼ cup of sauce and chopped cilantro. Serve hot.