Kaddu Ki Sabzi Recipe

Kaddu ki sabzi, is a quick an easy no onion-garlic pumpkin curry. A very mildly flavored easy pumpkin dish perfect with poori and roti.

Pumpkin is known as " kaddu" in Hindi and "mathanga" in Malayalam, my husband just loves this dish so much that my mother-in-law says, while growing up Homey never liked any curry which has a slight sweetness to it. But once, he tasted kaddu in his Punjabi friends house while living in Haldawani (Nainital) he was so smitten with this curry that whenever she makes poori, kaddu ki sabzi is a must for him. I do often make for him and these days he has with phulka, the best part of this sabzi/curry is that the ease at which it can be made. No onions or tomatoes to be cut....the pure simplicity of this curry always amaze me.

Pumpkin has a slight sweetness in itself, so to balance that Kashmiri red chili powder and green chilies are added along with other spices. The main flavor of this curry comes from the addition of fenugreek seeds (uluva) and asafoitida (hing, kayam).

Next time you buy pumpkin and you should definitely try this low calorie curry; yes, very little oil is used say about 2 tsp for the whole curry. This sure is a dieters delight, have you checked out my lauki curry (bottlegourd stew) which also is a low calorie and light curry.

Author: Nisa Homey
Serves: 2 to 3
Cooking Time: 10 min.

Ingredients:
Kaddu (Pumpkin): 1/2 kg, peeled and chopped.
Green Chili: 3, chopped (reduce or decrease accordingly)
Ginger: 1/2 to 3/4 inch, chopped.
Whole Red Chilies: 2, broken.
Asafoitida (kayam): 1/4 tsp.
Organic Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Kashmiri Chilli Powder: 3/4 tsp.
Coriander Powder: 1 tsp.
Fenugreek Seeds (Uluva): 1/4 tsp.
Amchur (mango powder): 1/2 tsp.
Water: About 1/2 to 1 cup.
Refined Oil: 2 tsp
Coriander leaves: A handful, chopped.
Salt: 1 tsp or as needed.

Method:
Peeling of the pumpkin skin is the hardest part....if you have tough peeler it will help otherwise, you will have to peel with a knife. I chopped them up on the cutting board and it sure was easy

Heat a pressure cooker (pressure cooking makes it more easy to cook and only one pan to clean) with 2 tsp of oil. Add in the fenugreek seeds, broken red chilies, green chilies, and ginger....mix it for a minute and then add in the asafoitida or hing. (I know the oil cant barely be seen, you can add more oil if you prefer, but lets make this as low cal as possible). Keep the fire on low.

Add in Kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, and turmeric....

With flame still on low, mix them up....(you have to be pretty fast otherwise it might get burnt).

Add in the pumpkin pieces, salt, and water.
Close the cooker, put the heat on high...and after 1 whistle, simmer for 3 to 5 min....and switch off fire.

Once the steam has been released, open the cooker, add in amchur (mango powder) and lightly mash pumpkin.

Mix well and add chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Whole Wheat Roti or Poori.

Tips:
In case you do not have amchur (dry mango powder) you can use tamarind in its place; just soak lime sized tamarind in little water, squeeze out and add the water to the curry.
Pumpkins can be really sweet, so to balance that both green chilies and red chili powder is added; but if you love the the pumpkin sweetness, you can reduce the chilies.
Some like to add in a bit of sugar or jaggery; but I prefer without them.
Coriander leaves gives out the much needed flavor, so do not miss them.
Can adjust water to your likeness.
Oil is very minimally used; if you like you can add in more.