In the last three weeks I happened to attend 2 Rajasthani weddings and both the weddings apart from a few other items had a common dish- Kaddu ki Subzi (Pumpkin curry). In the South, we are accustomed to eating Pumpkin cooked in gravy of coconut along with other spices, but having a relatively dry Kaddu dish was new to me. A little bit of research told me that it was Khatti- Meethi Kaddu ki subzi (Sour-sweet Pumpkin curry). Having bought over a kg of pumpkin over the weekend and discovering a new dish was incentive enough for me to try it out. It turned out pretty good, with the sugar, amchoor powder and chilies and fenugreek seeds taking you on a delightful rollercoaster of sweet, sour, hot and bitter flavors all combined in one dish. Though the original recipe required one to not use water at all to cook the pumpkin but only oil, I’ve used water to do so, so as to not make it very oily.
Ingredients
- 500 gm pumpkin (peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes)
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 big chopped green chilies
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp amchur powder (dried mango powder)
- 1 pinch asafetida
- 1 tbsp oil
Method:
- Heat some oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds to it
- Once they turn brown, add the green chilies, onions, and ginger and sauté till the onions turn light brown
- Then add salt, turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder and stir for a minute
- Then add sugar and let it mix well with the onions.
Once the sugar melts add the pumpkin pieces to this - Add some water, adjust salt and cover the pan with a lid till the pumpkin gets cooked.
- Just before taking it off the heat, add the amchur and asafetida and stir for one last time.
- Serve hot with chapattis.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3