pumpkin masala / kaddu ki sabzi

This is a recipe I am posting as an apology to Eric for not turning up for the skype chat on Wednesday evening :(

Serves 2

1kg Pumpkin - JAP - the green one
Mustard seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (for spicy otherwise half)
Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
Oil - 4 tablespoons
Coriander leaves for garnishing

cut the pumpkin. the size of the dices in the image will make the end product mushy (which i like). NO NEED to skin the pumpkin :) if you want the pieces to be separate at the end - cut bigger pieces.




Heat oil in a saucepan and when hot add mustard seeds and after 2-3 seconds cumin seends and after 3-4 seconds the diced pumpkin. toss so that they mix nicely. cover lid, turn heat down to 3 o'clock and cook for 20 minutes, tossing one or two times in between.

mix the chilli, turmeric and coriander powder in a cup with water so that it dissolves and becomes a liquidy paste. turn the heat high and add this paste, stir till they mix decently and turn the heat down again to 3 o'clock. Cook for another 5 minutes and done! garnish with coriander leaves and serve with bread/naan/ chapaati/ pooris (but not rice :D)

pumpkin masala recipe as an apology to Eric

This is a recipe I am posting as an apology to Eric for not turning up for the skype chat on Wednesday evening :(

Serves 2

1kg Pumpkin - JAP - the green one
Mustard seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/3 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (for spicy otherwise half)
Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
Oil - 4 tablespoons
Coriander leaves for garnishing

cut the pumpkin. the size of the dices in the image will make the end product mushy (which i like). if you want the pieces to be separate at the end - cut bigger pieces.

Heat oil in a saucepan and when hot add mustard seeds and after 2-3 seconds cumin seends and after 3-4 seconds the diced pumpkin. toss so that they mix nicely. cover lid, turn heat down to 3 o'clock and cook for 20 minutes, tossing one or two times in between.

mix the chilli, turmeric and coriander powder in a cup with water so that it dissolves and becomes a liquidy paste. turn the heat high and add this paste, stir till they mix decently and turn the heat down again to 3 o'clock. Cook for another 5 minutes and done! garnish with coriander leaves and serve with bread/naan/ chapaati/ pooris (but not rice :D)

Addendum: You can skip skinning the pumpkin - just dice without peeling!!! Saves a lot of time and is equally tasty, if not more :p

khichdi

quite a number of people like khichdi, because


a) it's easy to make
b) it's healthy
c) it's easy to make

you really want to have khichdi a day after the following

1) all you can eat buffet
2) chocolate fondu night
3) movie night with free chips at the hosts'
4) large big mac meal because it was just 50 cents more than regular meal
5) mom visited you for 2 weeks
6) finished a kg tub of homer hudson full fat ice cream because you *suspected* it was going bad (although you just bought it from woolies the same day :D)

coming down to business, the ingredients you *need* are

0) water - 5 cups
1) rice - 1 cup
2) lentil - either split moong or toovar or mix - 1 cup
3) oil
4) salt 1 teaspoon
5) turmeric 1/2 teaspoon, chilli powder 1 teaspoon
6) cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

ingredients you might want to add are


7) onions - 1 large chopped nail size
8) tomatoes - 2 medium chopped rather big (about the size of a "normal" dice)
9) cloves - 6-10 pieces
10) cardamom - 3-5 pieces
11) 2 bay leaves
12) potatoes - two medium - cut into match box size)

pressure cooker is best otherwise you can also cook in sauce pan with secure lid

put oil (about 5-6 tablespoons) and when hot, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves, cardamom and cloves and after 5-6 seconds or before it burns :D add the onions. fry for a while - not too much as in curry, just a little while - say about 2 mins. while onions fry, wash the rice and lentils together and keep aside. (no need to have soaked the lentils beforehand since these are the thin lentils - toovar/split moong)

add the chilli powder, turmeric and salt.

add the potatoes, rice and lentils and fold a couple of times. then add the 5 cups of water and when it boils, add the tomatoes and put the lid on.

a) if using pressure cooker, cook for 5-6 minutes on high and 10 minutres on 3o'clock position.

or b) if using saucepan with lid, cook for 7-8 minutes on high and 15 minutes on 3o'clock position

done dona done done :p

my favorite khichdi with sweet lime pickle and yoghurt