Shrimp cook up so fast that I often use them for an easy meal. You need medium-sized, raw shrimp here, the kind that are sold without their heads. I like to serve this dish with plain rice and a simple vegetable or a salad.
This recipe can easily be left to simmer away in a slow cooker for eight hours before adding the chicken. It yields a large quantity of sauce that freezes well if you're feeding a smaller group. Serve over hot steamed basmati rice.
I make this with both pumpkin and Hubbard squash. From a 3 -pound segment with skin, I am usually left with about 2 pounds of seedless, skinless flesh.
You may serve this with most Indian meals. For a more elaborate meal with an international feel, I like to put this dish together with Palestinian Rice with Lentils and Browned Onions (page 404), Sliced Tomatoes in a Tomato Sauce (page 303), some greens, such as Sautéed Spinach with Dill and Onion (page 225), and a yogurt relish or cheese dish.
Somewhere between a curry and a sweet chutney, this dish may be served with all South Asian, Malay-style, and Middle Eastern meals.
You need half-ripe mangoes here. Since these are what most commonly pass for mangoes in the Western world, they should not be hard to find. Each mango should be hard with yellow or pale orange flesh.
For the curry powder, I like to use Bolst's hot version. Ready-made amchar masala is sold by Caribbean grocers, though you can easily make your own and store it.
The tarka this time is of cumin and mustard seeds, but they provide only the background taste. It is the tomato-cream sauce, flavored with the aromatic garam masala, that provides for the main flavors in this dish.
