I don’t know about you, but I’m cold. My fingers haven’t been a normal temperature since September.
Yesterday, I decided I was going to be a tough Canadian girl and head outside for a run just after sunrise, despite the fact that it was only about –4C. If you know me, you may know that I don’t do cold very well. Despite being born in New Brunswick and enduring many crazy Winters, I just hate the cold.
I left the house with 3/4 length pants, a light zip-up mesh jacket from Costco (you know the ones with all the air vents), a baseball cap, and running gloves. I figured I would be a bit cold to start off and then I’d warm up. No problem, right?
Well, it turns out I’m not so tough…and I was dressed like a fool! A jacket with mesh air vents all over it? What was I thinking? I didn’t even make it half way down my street before feeling like my body would break off like an ice chunk if I took one more step. I stopped in my tracks and flew like a bat out of hell all the way home! All I remember is thinking that I was dying. So much for tough…
I knew if I turned back there would be a strong possibility that I may not make it back outside again, but I gave myself a little pep talk and took just a couple minutes to put on some warmer clothes. I threw on a light Nike jacket and a headband around my ears and I was off once again! Half the battle is showing up. Granted, I was still wearing 3/4 length pants, but you win some you lose some.
After about 5 minutes of warming up, I ended up having a wonderful 4-mile run. The sun came out and the cold didn’t bother me much now that I was dressed properly. I returned with rosy cheeks and a new outlook on the day before me.
Moral of the story: Dress for success.
…and eat really spicy Indian food which is what we’ve been doing a lot lately!

I’ve turned Eric into a real curry fan, despite his claims that he doesn’t like spicy food. Well, I’m not buying it anymore!
Last week, we found ourselves eating at the Whole Foods food bar like we often do when we’re in Mississauga. I tried a dish called Aloo Matar (which I read is a classic Punjabi dish). With a base of potatoes and green peas sautéed with Indian spices, it’s the perfect comforting, stick-to-your-ribs, warm-me-up meal. I knew I had to try to make this at home.
You can see the dish in the photo just below the sign! It sure isn’t a pretty dish, but it’s amazing regardless.

My first attempt was pretty good, although I would like to compare them side by side! I used this All Recipes Aloo Matar recipe and adapted it to what I had in my pantry. I didn’t have ginger garlic paste, so I used fresh garlic and ginger and then changed a bunch of other things.
Aloo Matar (attempt 1)
- 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 lb potatoes, chopped
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 & 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- pinch chili pepper and paprika
It turned out really good, but I kept feeling like something was missing. Maybe it was the garlic ginger paste or fenugreek leaves? If anyone has a kick-butt authentic Aloo matar recipe, please let me know!

I made my Butternut Squash Mac N Cheeze again last week (obsessed) and had some roasted butternut squash to use up, so I thought it would be fun to make a curry-flavoured hummus. I added a cup of roasted squash, tweaked my favourite hummus recipe, and then added spices to taste. It paired wonderfully with the Aloo Matar and it was fun to dip the pita bread in and mix it all together.

Oh She Glows
Spicy Curry Butternut Squash Hummus
You control how spicy you want this hummus! The butternut squash adds a light sweetness which is nicely contrasted by the curry powder, tahini, and cumin. Serve with a warm pita and your favourite Indian dish.
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup cooked butternut squash
- One 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2-3 tsp good-quality curry powder, to taste
1. With the processor running, drop in two garlic cloves to mince. Scrape down side of bowl, and add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. Adjust curry spices to taste and add more water if necessary to attain your desired consistency. Garnish with garam masala and a bit of olive oil if desired. Serve with pita bread, crackers, tortilla wraps, vegetables, etc.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I was crazy over this hummus, but it really grew on me after a few tastes. I don’t think the batch lasted longer than 2 days!
We’re definitely feeling warmer over here, but more spicy food will be needed soon…
and maybe a Snuggie or two.








{ 105 comments… read them below or add one }
this is my FAVORITE INDIAN RECIPE OF ALL TIME. This is why i am obsessed with/stalk your blog. You rock my life, Angela. You really do. Who says the best thing to come from Canada is hockey fights and Alex Trebek!! (jk, my bff is Canadian-though she prefers to be referred to as a Quebec Native)
Yum! I love Indian food! This looks great! Hahah I am not tough when it comes to cold either….!
Oh my I LOVE curry! This sounds so different from most of your recipes. You could put any root vegetable in hummus, probably! Hmmm sweet potato hummus would be really good, too.
Ooo…I’m going to have to try this one! Love spicy food in the winter!
Also, you’re nuts for dressing so light for your run! ;) I’m running in the local 5k “Turkey Trot” Thanksgiving morning and the temps are supposed to get into the 50′s!! YAY! A nice change over last year’s -10F!!
You should try having naan bread instead of pita…I love love love garlic naan bread fresh out of the oven! *drool*
You read my mind…I’ve been thinking about making a vegan naan bread for a while now!
Please do! I made Naan over thanksgiving (adapted from an allrecipes recipe), and it was good…but not great! I’d love to have one of your recipes for it.
I think I’d like the hummus even without the curry.
I did the opposite on my run this weekend – it was dreary looking outside and I assumed that meant cold. I was all dressed to stay warm and ended up running 8 miles in 776 degree weather. In pants and a jacket. Oy.
Whole Foods’ hot bar is my savior during the holiday season – aloo mater is one I love. Thanks for doing the dirty work of re-creating it. :)
haha that’s definitely happened to me before too! I think I always under-dress because I worry about being too hot.
Ooh love it already! I went through a phase after moving back from the Middle East where the last type of food I wanted to eat was curry (we had it practically every day there) but now I’m back to my Indian-food loving self and this sounds delicious! Can’t say I’ve tried fenugreek (well, consciously anyway – I’m sure the food I ate in Bahrain contained it) so I don’t really know whether or not that’s your missing ingredient, but I’ll be giving your recipe a try for sure!
Hi Angela,
My two cents on your attempt to make Indian food : As I see the fresh ginger-garlic wouldnt have affected the Potato curry. Infact it is best to use fresh ingredients. As far as my knowledge goes, our Indian curries taste the best when you use authentic Indian masalas. I usually get my garam masala from Indian stores around here. They are imported from India. Also try using other oils like canola,sunflower as coconut oil gives a taste which these curries dont go along with. Many Indian recipes are coconut oil based but they are rare.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for your help! I agree the coconut oil probably wasn’t the best oil to use although it was quite yummy regardless.
I used this Garam Masala http://arvindas.com/a/shop/index.php/all-products.html and I really like this spice line. Would you consider this authentic?
Angela-
Here are my couple of suggestions on the aalu mattar
- make it in a pressure cooker
- make sure the oil is quite hot,and increase the oil just a tad
- use this order- cumin seeds, bay leaf, onion ginger garlic, saute a few minutes- throw in potatoes, let them get a little sauted, add all your spices, saute some more and then add tomatoes. (use tomatoe sauce in addition to fresh tomatoes and tomato paste ) it will give it a nice wetness and even tiny bit of water, lastly add peas, and then pressure cook it for 4 to 5
minutes, open the lid and go crazy with chives and cilantro…
thanks Jaya!
I love how easy Indian food is to veganize – and there’s something about soft, mild peas that is so awesome with spicy!
Angela, I’m LOVIN’ on your creativity. Especially since your creativity is pairing Indian food + hummus… two of my favorite things. I’ll definitely be trying this out soon… :) Thanks!
I love the feeling of tasting something really delicious and being excited to recreate it! If it doesn’t come out as planned the first time, I’m usually that much more determined to get it right! =)
I agree, it’s a fun challenge! Whole foods has great recipes
Presidents Choice makes a delicious garam masala hummus and I have been trying to re-create it but I’m finding it turns out too sweet and cinnamony. For some reason I never though to add curry to the mix so I’ll have to try that! The Aloo Matar looks delicious as well, I’ll be trying that soon too!
Indian food is one thing that I’ve always wanted to try to make at home but feel so intimidated by. This looks so doable and I love it!
Also – I’d be all over that hummus like…hummus on a pita :)
Is there any substitution for tahini that you know of? I’ve been wanting to make hummus for a while now but cannot find tahini at any of my local grocery stores!
Hmm if you can find sesame seeds, you could try making your own?
http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2011/01/how-to-make-tahini-paste.html
Thank you!
This is one of my absolute favorite Indian dishes! So glad you came up with a recipe for it. My dad grew up in India and would make us lots of Indian food when we were kids (not so much anymore) but this was never one of them. I’d have to wait for restaurant outings to get this :)
delicious angela!! my love affair with butternut squash shall continue with this recipe :)
This looks amazing– especially since I’ve never had Indian food, at all!
Ooh definitely want to try this hummus recipe!! I’m a HUGE pumpkin hummus fan so I feel like I would love butternut squash hummus as well!
And I’m with you on the cold! I attend school in Vermont and have yet to figure out how to handle the winter!
I’ve really been enjoying the winter runs! It snowed on my first one and I slightly overdressed. I’m trying to get in as many runs as possible before the temperatures really drop!
We love curry in our house!
same here….and before the slippery snow!
I LOVE this Indian food blog, I don’t really know what the names mean in English, but everything I’ve made has been amazing! http://www.sailusfood.com/
tks I will check it out!!
I completely know what you mean, I was sat at my laptop the other day wearing GLOVES! Who’d ve thunk it would get this cold in Cyprus of all places! Lovely looking recipe! Butternut squash is EVERYWHERE recently, not that I’m complaining! :)
These aren’t something I would normally make but I need to break out of my box and they look really good! Thanks for doing the “test” phase of great recipes for the rest of us to gobble up!
My thoughts are it’s better to use the fresh ginger and garlic, but I would have used an oil like canola or sesame (not the roasted kind, just plain sesame oil). Also, the fenugreek does have a very pronounced flavor. I make Indian food quite often, but I never take Indian recipes off of a site like all recipes. Not that it’ll necessarily be bad, but there are so many other websites that seem to be based in India that always yield such better results. The only problem is that they sometimes write the name of spices with words we don’t hear in North America, so you need to look them up, and also, they’ll put everything in grams and conversions will be necessary (unless you have a scale, which I don’t).
I love making Indian recipes at home. Thanks for this one. The hubs will appreciate the extra spice!
My goodness, this looks divine! Love all those spices and flavors! Sounds delicious!
Hi Angela,
You see Punjabi cooking doesn’t really use coconut oil; it’s more of ghee or other mellow vegetable oils. My mother uses barely 1/2 tsp of cumin and adds turmeric, coriander powder, fennel and green chillies and no sugar.
It is best to mix your own garam masala – it’s more flavorful & cheaper. Also, curries are usually eaten with naans, rotis or chappathis.
Good luck.
I can’t wait to try this hummus recipe! My husband and I are a little obsessed with homemade hummus (it’s so much better than store bought!) and I often just eat it straight up with a spoon. I have a recipe for Moroccan spiced hummus if you’re interested:
http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2011/10/24/moroccan-inspired-hummus/
If you want to make really good, authentic Indian food, you must get one of Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks. I have been using her Asian Vegetarian cookbook for years and the pages are literally falling out. The recipes look daunting because the ingredient lists are long, but it’s mostly just spices that require nothing more than a bit of measuring.
Thanks for the suggestion!
aahh, Angela! Do you have a pair of tights for winter running? If you don’t, I HIGHLY recommend getting a pair. You will love them forever and it will make a difference on running in the cold. They are a bit pricey but they last for years.
I love how bright colored that hummus is.. looks good!
No I don’t but I think I really need a pair!
I love love love this post!! #1: Aloo Matar has to be one of the BEST foods on the planet, period. Definitely perfect fall-weather food. #2: I have 3 butternut squashes sitting on my counter. 3. Overzealous? I think so. But the hummus sounds delish, and will help me use it up faster! Thanks Angela!
heh I hope you like it!
i want to like curry….i just don’t know if i do though. first i’m so scared to make it at home. i never have the right spices. and i have a curry powder…i just don’t know if it’s the ‘right’ curry powder. lol that makes no sense. curry confuses me.
Hi Angela,
I cook Indian food quite a lot and although most of my recipes are hand me downs from family, I look at Sanjeev Kapoor’s website a lot. Here’s a link to the Aloo matar recipe. The taste lies in its simplicity. http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/aloo-matar.aspx
PS – I’ve had problems with his website since the redesign a couple of months ago, so if the link doesn’t work, pls google Sanjeev Kapoor Aloo Matar :)
I looove aloo matar. I find Indian dishes really difficult to successfully recreate at home. It’s so hard to get the mixes of spices and everything else just right. The butternut squash hummus sounds really yummy!
That hummus sounds great but everything I’ve done with butternut squash this year has been a disaster. I seriously don’t know what the problem is but I’m leaving that squash alone for now!
Hummus+ Butternut Squash? Genius! By the way, how do you get your pictures with ingredients in the pan to look so pretty? All your pictures are gorgeous. ;)
I love stealing ideas from WF salad bar…the ingredients listings are just too hard not to steal tips from! Love the idea of squash hummus, definitely bookmarking this! Thanks for sharing :)
I’m a whole foods hot bar ingredient snapper as well!! I come home and try to remake what I just ate! I did this last week with their vegan pumpkin soup….swooonnnnn!!!
I love, love, love Indian food, so these are musts on my list!!!!
xxoo
I love Indian Food! Eat it 3-4 times a month.
I find myself peeking at WFoods salad bar list too!
So I am going to make this butternut squash hummus after Thanksgiving! I can’t wait!!! I will let you know how it goes. :)
how much do i love that my city gets a shout out in this post! SO MUCH! yay mississauga!
:) so happy Mississauga has a whole foods now!
It really is great the Mississauga has so many great things to offer….Whole Foods being one of my favourites though also having a Crate & Barrel has been a great addition.
As someone who is totally obsessed with hummus, I have never in my life heard of the butternut squash variation and, I have to tell you, I already know I have been seriously missing out! This looks like it tastes AMAZING and I totally can’t wait to try it. Thanks!!!
Enjoy Irina!