Kaddu ki Subji

I love to drool over pictures of pumpkins, and day-dream over recipes of pumpkin soup. So when I saw a pumpkin at my vegetable stall, I picked it up, even though I had no idea what to do with it. It was after getting back home that I looked for recipes, and I rather liked this one, and decided to try it out. The jury is still out on whether or not the family likes it!

1 small pumpkin/kaddu
¼ tsp methi seeds
1 tsp jeera
1 or 2 dry red chilies (optional)
½ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp amchur
1 tsp sugar or 2 tsp crushed jaggery
2 tbsp oil or ghee
¾th cup or 1 cup water
salt to taste

Method
Wash, peel and chop the pumpkin. Remove the seeds and keep aside either for planting or for making roasted pumpkin seeds
Heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker, temper with methi seeds and jeera, and fry for a minute on a low flame. Add red chilli, chopped pumpkin, and haldi and red chilli powder. Mix it well, add sugar, salt and water, cover the cooker, and let it cook for 8 minutes (after the first whistle).
Mash the cooked pumpkin, add garam masala and amchur powder. Stir the mashed pumpkin well and cook for minute or two. If the sabzi still looks watery, evaporate it by cooking it without the lid- the sabzi should not be dry nor watery, just in between.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve kaddu ki sabzi hot with puris

Bagara Baingan

Got this recipe verbally from a friend, then modified it a bit by checking a couple of similar recipes on the internet. The dish looked more reddish than the picture does, and I actually wiped the dish clean with the last piece of roti.

Dry roast 2 tbsp white sesame seeds and 2 tbsp peanuts, and keep aside. When cool, grind with 2 tbsp grated coconut (and a bit of water) till you get a smooth paste.
Slit the long, slender brinjals (350 gms) lengthwise (making sure not to cut till the stem), and fry till they are soft, but don’t lose their shape. Keep aside.
Fry 1 onion, chopped fine and 2 tsp ginger garlic paste till the onion turns brownish. Add ground mixture and fry for a minute. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, jeera, coriander powder and salt. Mix well and fry for another minute.
Extract the juice from 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind, add to the masala and mix well. Add the brinjals and cook closed for about 10 minutes.
Garnish with freshttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3787758499767582637#editor/target=post;postID=6492327248501405989;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=11;src=linkh dhania patta before serving.

Cauliflower in tomato gravy

The Bengali Cauliflower Dalna. One of the easiest recipes around.

Fry 1 onions chopped fine, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, with 1 tsp each zeera and dhania powder till the raw smell goes. Add 2 medium tomatoes chopped fine, and 1 tsp each red-chilli and haldi powder,and fry it gets slightly mushy.
Add cauliflower florets (1 medium sized cauliflower)*, toss it around a bit. Add about 1 cup of water, bring to boil, lower flame, cover and allow to cook in it's own steam for 10 minutes (or till done).
You can also add peas, if you like, but I don't add potatoes.

* at this stage, my mother adds 1 tsp garam masala, but I don't because the kids don't like it "spicy" (uttered with a crinkly nose).

Rajasthani haldi-ki-sabji

Haldi is good for a cold, they said. And I went and bought 100 gms of it. Knew I couldn't consume that much, so asked google for help. What emerged was tasty, and nutritious, and tasted pretty good with rotis. But, and it is a big BUT (but, I said, not butt, though that too is big), it was all of that only all that when you knew you had to have it for the goodness. I am sure I will never make it because I "want to" have it, but when I "need to", it's something I will definitely turn to.

[Proportions are approximate, because the recipes were all for 250 gms, and I reduced everything my way.]

Peel and grate 100 gms raw haldi (better still get someone to do it for you). Keep aside.
Mix 1 tsp each of red chilli powder and dhania in about 3 tbsp curds, and salt to taste. Keep aside.
Shell about 15-20 peas, fry in ghee and keep aside.
Add a little more ghee, a pinch of hing, jeera, red chillies and fry till done.
Add grated haldi (and a bit more ghee if required), and fry till it starts turning brown (do a taste test to check that it is not bitter).
Add curds, and cook till the gravy thickens.
Add peas, turn off the fire, cover and let it cook in its own steam for a few minutes.

Serve with rotis.