pick foragefeed

Pumpkin Pachadi ~Pumpkin & Coconut Stew~

« Previous
/
Next »
By Rajani / 31/12/2009 / home food, kerala, pumpkin, Recipes / 10 Comments

In the summer’s when the pumpkin patch would bloom, my grandmother would watch with hawk eyes, expertly pointing out the male and female blossoms. The swollen female blossoms were tended to very lovingly, they would after all be the providers of sweet, juicy and delicious pumpkins. By mid summer fully grown pumpkins will be basking and ripening under the summer sun.
Already pumpkin starts figuring heavily on the family lunch menu. Few of the male blossoms have been roasted and incorporated into chutneys, few precious one have been batter fried, pumpkin leaves are chopped up and cooked into stir fries, the family not wasting any part of the pumpkin prelude.
A good harvest will mean all kinds of stews, chutneys and curries made of pumpkin. Even then a few pumpkins are too ripe and too sweet for curries, these are grated and boiled with milk and sugar and cardamom, until they are caramalised and then eaten as halwa. Some pumpkins are chopped, steamed, mildly spiced and then sun dried, to be fried later as snacks or a crunchy accompaniment to an elaborate sunday lunch. And always, always a pumpkin or two were allowed to ripen, and, the seeds from these, dried, mixed with ash, wrapped tightly in a piece of newspaper and put away for another summer.
Pumpkin pachchadi is just another regular home food that was prepared by my grandmother who had the greatest task of all, cooking up all the summer pumpkins and making sure it always tasted different, exciting and delicious.
Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin, chopped
1 cup coconut, grated
1/2 cup yoghurt, whipped
1 tablesoon whole mustard
1 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste
Seasoning
1 tablespoon coconut oil/cooking oil
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 sun dried whole, red chilly
Method
1. Cook pumpkin along with salt and turmeric till soft.2. Make a coarse paste of grated coconut, mustard and yoghurt and add to the cooked pumpkin and allow to come to a boil, let simmer till its thickish.3. Heat oil and temper the mustard, red chilly and curry leaves, pour over the pachadi.Serve with hot, steaming rice.
1. In  covered saucepan, on medium heat, cook the chopped pumpkin along with salt, turmeric and a sprinkling of water until soft.
2. In the meantime, make a coarse paste of grated coconut, mustard and yoghurt, in your blender.
3. When the pumpkin is cooked, keep the flame on sim, and add the coconut mustard paste. Cover and let simmer for about 2, 3 minutes.
4. For the seasoning, heat oil in another saucepan, fry the mustard, red chilly and curry leaves, and pour over the cooked pachchadi.
Pachchadi is a great accompaniment to a meal, ofcourse it can be the main meal as well. This particular pachchadi combines 6 tastes, sweetness from the pumpkin, pungency of mustard, tartness from curds, salt and spice from the chilly, the addition of turmeric ofcourse always take care of the three basic tastes in any case – bitter, pungent & astringent.

In the summers when the pumpkin patch would bloom, my grandmother would watch with hawk eyes, expertly pointing out the male and female blossoms. The swollen female blossoms were tended to very lovingly, they would after all be the providers of sweet, juicy and delicious pumpkins. By mid summer fully grown pumpkins will be basking and ripening under the summer sun.

Already pumpkin starts figuring heavily on the family lunch menu. Few of the male blossoms have been roasted and incorporated into chutneys, few precious one have been batter fried, pumpkin leaves are chopped up and cooked into stir fries, the family not wasting any part of the pumpkin prelude.

A good harvest will mean all kinds of stews, chutneys and curries made of pumpkin. Even then a few pumpkins are too ripe and too sweet for curries, these are grated and boiled with milk, sugar, and cardamom, until they are caramalised and then eaten as halwa. Some pumpkins are chopped, steamed, mildly spiced and then sun dried, to be fried later as snacks or a crunchy accompaniment to an elaborate sunday lunch. And always, always a pumpkin or two were allowed to ripen, and, the seeds from these, dried, mixed with ash, wrapped in a piece of newspaper, secured with jute cord and put away for another summer.

Pumpkin pachchadi is just another regular home food that was prepared by my grandmother who had the greatest task of all, cooking up all the summer pumpkins and making sure it always tasted different, exciting and delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups pumpkin, chopped

1 cup coconut, grated

1/2 cup yoghurt, whipped

1 tablesoon whole mustard

1 teaspoon turmeric

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tablespoon coconut oil/cooking oil

1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

2 sun dried whole, red chilly

Method

1. In  a covered saucepan, on medium heat, cook the chopped pumpkin along with salt, turmeric and a sprinkling of water until soft.

2. In the meantime, make a coarse paste of grated coconut, mustard and yoghurt, in your blender.

3. When the pumpkin is cooked, reduce the flame to a low, add the coconut mustard paste, and combine. Cover and let simmer for about 2, 3 minutes.

4. For the seasoning, heat oil in another saucepan, fry the mustard, red chilly and curry leaves, and pour over the cooked pachchadi.

Pachchadi is a great accompaniment to a meal, ofcourse it can be the main meal as well. This particular pachchadi combines 6 tastes, sweetness from the pumpkin, pungency of mustard, tartness from curds, salt and spice from the chilly, the addition of turmeric ofcourse always take care of the three basic tastes in any case – bitter, pungent & astringent.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Print Friendly Print Get a PDF version of this webpage PDF
Tags: food, kerala, pumpkin, recipe, vegetarian
Tweet
  • http://www.cookingandme.com nags

    Love the idea, love the layout :) Hoping to see some good stuff around soon!

  • http://kreativityandme.blogspot.com/ Smita

    Congratulations on the website… I love it! All the best, Rajani.

    Hugs from a loyal reader,
    Smita

  • http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com deeba

    Love the new blog idea & layout Rajani… it’s beautiful!
    Happy New Year to you. What a wonderful beginning to 2010!
    Much love Deeba

  • http://yasmeen-healthnut.blogspot.com/2009/06/blueberry-almond-butter-oats-bar.html yasmeen

    Great start of the new year Rajani.Love your new space.My best wishes for 2010 :D

    • Rajani a.k.a. a vegetarian in the middle east

      thanks all for your encouraging words!! really appreciate it!

  • http://www.altiusconsults.com Rashmi

    LOVE the new look, and the pumkin pachadi…do feature ollan, thiyal and koot curry in subsequent articles..

    • Rajani a.k.a. a vegetarian in the middle east

      ok rashmi i’ll keep that in mind :)

  • lekha joshi

    Hi Rajani…this is Lekha remmeber me…Nina’s friend…..yummy recipe and a fabulous idea…..gosh I am so hungry just looking at it….I have some pumpkin in my fridge and am going to try it out today!!!!

    • Rajani a.k.a. a vegetarian in the middle east

      hi lekha, ofcourse i remember u!!! how are you? still in delhi?

  • Sachu

    Yo Rajani!! How come you never told me about this site?? ITs sooooper!
    I make a similar “paranggikkai pachadi”- only the curd is substituted with tamrind and a dash of jaggery towards the end.
    Check it out!
    Love,
    Sachu.

EatWriteThink

Promote Your Page Too
Quantcast
Follow this blog
Foodbuzz
CookEatShare Featured Author
view my recipes
CookEatShare Featured Author
IndiBlogger - The Indian Blogger Community
© 2011
Designed by Wpshower / Powered by WordPress