Thai Butternut squash and seafood curry

This has the most amazing flavors and I have made it at least 6 times, always successfully. With the yellow (or red) curry paste, go carefully as different curry pastes have different strengths. You don’t want to overpower the seafood.
If you use green beans as the green vegetable, make sure you parboil and shock them in cold water before adding them to the pan.

Serves 4 generously.
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk ( about 1 2/3 cups)
1 to 2 tbsp yellow or red curry paste ( I used 1 tbsp)
1 1/2 cups fish stock
3 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla is a great one)
2 tbsp sugar
3 lemongrass stalks, each cut into 1/3’s and bruised with the flat of a knife
3 keffir lime leaves, (or regular ones if you can’t get keffir lime leaves) stalked and cut into very thin strips.
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 1/4 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into large, bite sized chunks
1lb 2oz salmon fillet, skinned and cut into large bite sized chunks
1/b 2oz peeled, deveined raw shrimp
Bok Choy or any other green vegetable of your choice
1/2 to 1 lime, juiced or more to taste
Cilantro, for garnish

Skin the thick creamy top off the can of coconut milk and put it into a large saucepan or Dutch oven with the curry paste, over medium heat.
Let it sizzle and, using a fork, whisk or wooden spoon, beat the cream and paste together until combined. Still beating gently, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish sauce, fish stock,  sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves and turmeric.
Bring to the boil then add the butternut squash. Cook on a fast simmer until the squash is tender, about 15 mins.

*  You can cook the recipe up until this part in advance, maybe leaving the butternut squash with some bite still in it as it will continue to soften as the pan cools. Either way, when you’re about 5 mins from wanting to eat, get ready to cook the seafood.

To the robustly simmering pan, add the salmon and shrimp. When the salmon and shrimp have cooked through, which will only take about 3 to 4 minutes, stir in any green vegetable you’re using – sliced, chopped or shredded as suits and push down into the sauce with a wooden spoon.
When the green vegetable is cooked, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir and taste and add the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it.
Take the pan off the heat and pour the curry into a large bowl and sprinkle over the cilantro; the point is that the cilantro goes in just before serving.
Serve with more chopped cilantro for people to add to their own bowls as they eat and some plain Thai jasmine or Basmati rice.