Dry fry the grated coconut on pan until lightly golden brown. Remove from the heat and smash with pestle or heavy objects to release a bit of oil and flavor. Set aside. Blend all the ground spices ingredients into a paste, you may need to add a little bit of the water in there to get it going
You can poke the acorn squash with a fork and then microwave for 1 minute and then use a peeler to peel the skin off OR you can use a Chinese cleaver to peel the skin off, it's easier than using a regular knife I think. Once the skin is off, cut in half and then scoop out all the seeds and strings. Cut into large chunks, about 3-inch or so
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add in the cooking oil. Stir fry the ground spices until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add grated coconut, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric leaf (if using), bay leaves, cardamom, and continue to stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in squash chunks, coconut cream, bring to a gentle boil and reduce the heat to let it simmer gently, uncovered until all the liquid is almost gone and the coconut milk has reduced to oil, 20 minutes or so and the squash should be fork tender and you can see some oil separated from the liquid too, but we don't want them to turn into mush. Have a taste towards the end of boiling to see if you need more salt
Turn off the heat and serve as part of multicourse meal
Notes
You can add canned kidney beans or other beans (drained off liquid) you like into this dish towards the end of cooking and let it cook for about 1 minute and it will be a complete meal on its own