ahmi

Hubby liked the masala and curry, as its very spicy and rich. we both are not huge fans of pumpkin. But any ways if you are looking for a spicy pumpkin curry, this should be your choice! or try substituting with potatoes or brinjals which will match with the curry.


This pumpkin curry is known as wattakka kalu pol in sri lanka. its one of the favorite vegetarian curries among the locals. You can refer Master Chef participant Dani's pumpkin curry video here. You need to have the roasted curry powder to prepare this curry, it can just be prepared in 15 mins. and it keeps well for 3 months.

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Yellow Pumpkin - 1 cup / 250 gms (Diced)
Red onion - 1
Green chilly - 2 (finely chopped)
Garlic - 6 cloves
Ginger - 2' inch size
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup ( first pressed coconut milk, if using canned coconut milk refer notes)
Roasted curry powder - 2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Coconut oil - 2 tsbp
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

To roast and grind

Dry coconut - 1 tbsp
Raw rice / Basmati rice - 1 tbsp

Method:

First dice the pumpkin's, wash them and let it boil in a cup of water till they are well cooked.

Roast the dry coconut and raw rice separately till they are well roasted and grind them together. this is used to thicken the curry.

In a thick bottomed pan, add coconut oil, add garlic and ginger fry them well. add curry leaves, bay leaf and finely chopped green chilies  next add the chopped onion and saute till it turns translucent. then add cumin and corriander powder. mix them all with the onions.

Add the cooked pumpkin to the pan and  add the roasted curry powder and chilly powder and salt to taste. Mix it all with the pumpkin. add in the coconut milk and give a stir.

Once the curry starts to boil, reduce the flame to medium and add the roasted and grounded dry coconut + raw rice powder(1 tbsp) to the curry. mix well. when the curry starts thickening, reduce the flame to low. You can remove the curry when the curry attains your required consistency.

Notes:

If you prefer the curry to be very spicy and hot, add a red chilly  and one green chilly. i bet it's super hot!

If using canned coconut milk, dilute 1/4 cup of milk with water and use it.

This curry goes well with hot steamed rice, dosa's and appam.

After getting my muffin tray's, can anything stop me from trying muffins in the new tray? Iam glad that i tried Pumpkin muffins, as i easily prepared it by combining the wet and dry mix. The end result's were much appreciable. I did not feel, that i missed egg as it was fluffy or i could not spot the Pumpkin flavour in spite of using fresh home-made Pumpkin Puree. The spice i prepared for this was extra-ordinary. it filled my home with flavours of cardamon and Nutmeg.

i decided to bake the muffins without egg and butter. am sure, not due to calorie conscious, bcoz i did not have egg's and i wanted to use olive oil substituting butter, to find what difference it makes in taste. I added 2 tbsp's of yogurt at last to get the pouring consistency.

You can look forward for few more-first attempt's here in this winter. Iam very much interested in baking, but could'nt spare time in finding exact recipe. I feel this is one sort of research work. so here i am documenting my first attempt's. Give your verdicts, I really appreciate your suggestions to bake better next time.


You Bloggers across the sea tempt me a lot with your baking ventures. I thought that i could never find baking tray's / tart pan's / muffin tray's all in Chennai. But Arundathi was kind enough to share in her blog about currim bhoys in adyar and Nirmala has asked me to visit amma nana, for all the above mentioned pan's and trays. I visited currim bhoys, the shop is filled with lovely dinner sets and glasses, I picked few pans, i would have picked half of the shop, if something called money was with me. This Poor Girl is planning to visit monthly such shops with her monthly savings. Man Proposes - God Disposes (Dont Forget Lavi!!)

Coming to the Pie, I baked it with less tension. I was almost sure that it will turn up pretty good with some blind confidence, and i should say it got baked perfect and tasted so Great too. I did not have any idea of getting heavy cream for whipping cream to add it for pie filling, so ended up in adding full cream. any chennai bloggers reading this, suggest me where can i get heavy cream or is any way to prepare that at home?

How I Prepared Pumpkin Puree - By Stove Top Method?

I prepared Fresh Pumpkin Puree at Home. it was so easy to make, i just removed the flesh from skin with some effort and sauted in skillet with some oil till they turned tender. it took some 5 minutes to saute the pumpkin to tender. i cooled them and grinded the pumpkin's into fine puree. i did'nt sieve it. it got a smooth texture. (I bought 0.695 Kg of pumpkin and pureed it) but i used just half of the puree for two pie's.

It tasted so Great. we all loved it. I liked it in chilled form with cream. Do try this easy pumpkin Pie for Thanks Giving and Enjoy.