Can I Saute The Butternut Squash For The Butternut Biryani?

Our answer

Nigella's Butternut Biryani is a vegetarian rice dish that is perfect for entertaining a large crowd. Chunks of butternut squash are roasted and then added to a spicy curry sauce, which in turn is layered with rice and then the whole dish is heated and left to steam on top of the stove.

Nigella roasts the butternut squash as it is quite "hands off" and you are able to make the curry sauce while the squash is cooking. However, if you prefer you could cook the chunks of butternut in a frying pan on top of the stove. This can be quite time consuming as you will need to keep an eye on the cubes of squash and turn them regularly. Don't let the pan get too hot as the squash needs to cook through and become tender, as well as browning on the outside. And you may need to cook the squash in batches, depending on the size of your pan, as if the frying pan is overcrowded the squash could steam in its own juices rather than take on any colour. You may also need to use extra oil if frying the cubes of squash. If you have an air fryer then these can be very useful for roasting vegetables and the squash is likely to take 15-20 minutes at 180°C/350°F. You could also cook the cubes of squash up to a day in advance if you have the oven on for something else. Store the cooked squash in the fridge until you need to use it.