Sweet and sour pumpkin curry (Kaddu ki sabzi)

 

Hello Folks!!

Welcome to easy cooking blog no.2

Introduction

I hope you all are keeping well and staying safe with your loved ones.

I know we all are going through a rough patch lately, so it is about time to take extra care of our health and be mindful of what we are putting into our bodies. Good eating habits positively impact our lives in many ways. What and how much we are dumping into our body systems need careful consideration. Hence, food items containing antioxidants, micronutrients, and vitamins are extremely important to live a healthy life and should be consumed on a regular basis in different forms including our regular meals. 

How about a pumpkin? I know many of us not have good terms with this unique vegetable, despite its incredible nutritional value and medicinal significance. Yes, it is the most underrated vegetable and is not welcomed in most of our menu. 

Do not worry!! Today I will share all the reasons to make you fall in love with this cute vegetable. Pumpkins are low in calories, high in fibre, rich in antioxidants; the significant vitamin present in pumpkin is Vitamin A, which is good for your eyesight. So if you want to read my blogs without glasses or any related problem, start adding pumpkin into your diet for the aforementioned benefits. 

I have these fond memories of my childhood where we used to eat out on Sundays, they would serve us chole, poori with this as a delicious side dish. I would really relish it. U still make this gorgeous curry at least once in a week. It gets ready in less than 15 minutes and what else one wants. Please do give it a try and I bet you, it will be on your menu almost every other day.

There are so many different ways to make it. You can use onions, garlic and various spices. I just love to have it simple without many ingredients. There are some days when we do not feel like making elaborated meals. This one is just perfect for one of those days.

It does not need any fancy spices, only a few basic ingredients, and that is it.

Keeping all this in mind, today I am going to share an easy peasy recipe, which is not only delectable but very nutritious as well. This is one of my favourite curries that I like to cook often and thus makes the pumpkin my best buddy. This pumpkin chunks mixed with all the herbs and spices makes finger licking dish without putting much efforts.

Without wasting much time, let me introduce you to the most delicious dish ever, special Pumpkin curry. It goes well with hot steamed rice, roti, parantha as well as poori. It can be used as a side dish too if you wish to. 

 

                                                                      

PUMPKIN CURRY (Kaddu ki sabzi)

Ingredients                                           Qty     

Pumpkin                                                 500g

Oil or clarified butter                             2tbs

Fenugreek seeds                                   1tbs

Green chillies                                         as per taste

red chilli powder                                    as per taste

Turmeric powder                                   1tsp

Dry mango powder                                1tsp

Sugar (optional)                                     1/2tsp

Salt                                                          as per taste

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes.

 

Step by step making of Pumpkin curry:

 

• Peel off the pumpkin, wash it thoroughly a couple of times with fresh water and chop it into small pieces. (You do not have to finely chop it, Its big cubes suffice).

• Put a pan on a stove, add some oil or clarified butter, let it heat up a bit and throw fenugreek seeds into the pan first (it is important to cook the fenugreek seeds first, till they turn black; otherwise, they will taste bitter).

• Once the seeds start to turn black, add the fresh chopped green chillies and the pumpkin. Put the lid on and cook it on a high flame for about 5-10 minutes. (do not forget to stir it in between to avoid burning the pumpkin).

• Once the pumpkin becomes soft and cooked well enough, add all the dry spices and herbs mentioned above and mix it well. Cook it for another 10-15 minutes (depending upon the flame or heat of your gas stove) until the pumpkin turns mushy. Your pumpkin is all set to satisfy your taste buds. 

• You can garnish it with fresh coriander leaves and serves it with steamed rice roti, or poor. I love to have it with steamed rice. it is just mind-blowing combo with a dollop of home made ghee. 

• Once you try it, you will polish off the entire curry. You can even try it by adding 5 different seeds (fennel, cumin, nigella, mustard, coriander and fenugreek seeds). Just by adding all these seeds, your pumpkin curry will taste different altogether.

Cooking is all about learning new recipes and trying them out according to one's taste.

 

I am sure this recipe can be a hit in your kitchen.

Even newbies can master this particular recipe.

Do let me know your thoughts below.

Thanks!!