Tuesday 20 September 2011

Kaddu ki Sabzi (Indian styled pumpkin)

Having fed ourselves to our hearts' content at Subway, we thought of skipping the usual dinner at home. Our mistake! We underestimated our satiety centres; it was at 7 PM that we had the subs and by 9:30 PM we started to feel hungry again! So I opened the fridge to check what could be cooked easily and I found a pretty pumpkin staring back at me :).
Pumpkins and I go a long time in past. I associate it with two distinct memories; one of festivities in my childhood house and the other of picnic by the river Ganges near my hometown. Both the events had pumpkin being eaten in large quantities with puris and kachoris. Its strange when you think, how a humble vegetable can stir up so many memories and make you feel nostalgic.
Coming to the recipe part now, I took help from my mother (who is a great cook herself). It is quite simple to cook it and it's really amazing to see how with such few efforts the sabzi looks and tastes so great.

Kaddu ki Sabzi (Indian styled pumpkin)
Ingredients:
Kaddu (Pumpkin)- 500 grams
Fresh green Chillies- 2
Dried whole red Chillies- 2
Sesame seeds (White)- 1/2 tsp
Nigella seeds (Kalonji)- 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida- 1/4 tsp
Dried mango powder- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1/2 tsp
Salt- to taste
Mustard oil- 2 tbsp

Peel and chop pumpkin into bite sized pieces. Chop one green chilly into small pieces and slit the other one into two parts lengthwise. Break the dried red chillies into small pieces. Next, heat the mustard oil in a deep pan till its smoke point. Reduce the heat, add the dried red chillies and all the seasonings except dried mango powder, sugar and salt. Add the chopped green chillies. Stir it for a minute. Next, add the pumpkin and stir it to coat it with the oil and the spice mixture. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes or till the pumpkin pieces become soft and can be easily mashed. Add the dried mango powder, salt and sugar and stir it for a minute so that it becomes a little mashed. Garnish with the green chillies cut lengthwise. Serve with Indian breads like parantha or roti.
This simple yet tasty preparation is full of antioxidants. So try it soon!




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