Red Pumpkin Is Not A Mid 80's Spy Movie, But It's Tasty, and Vegan.

   
   Stuff has been crazy mad around here lately between writing and cooking.  Most of what I've been cooking I've not been able to publish here yet because it's for the CocoaPlanet Modern French Cafe here in Sonoma, but I have managed to get back to some home focused Indian dishes...thus, the Red Pumpkin.
    
   Now, I happen to like pumpkin in any form but to be honest pumpkin isn't always available, and even when it is, all pumpkins are not created culinarilly equal.  I've learned this the hard way several times, and so when I cook "pumpkin" many times I reach for the trusty butternut squash. Every year I grow a LOT of butternut squash. I store it in a cold room in the garage and then finally cube, vacuum seal and freeze it for future use. I am never without butternut squash. So when looking at my vast array of squashes, I turned to one of  the Grande Dames of Indian cuisine the late great Tarla Dalal who has an amazing and very simple recipe for Maharashtiran  style red pumpkin.

   I have to admit, besides being able to use one of my favorite vegetables I love the name Red Pumpkin even if I don't actually have one...it just reminds me of the cheesy Red Sonja movie from the 80s.



Which reminds me of the time I found myself seated on a couch at a producer's house party eating Mexican BBQ and talking to a perfectly normal sort of person who turned out to have been Red Sonja. Go figure. Seems like there was a lot of "Red" themed movies back then... Red Dawn, Red Heat...you get the drift. What's that got to do with Pumpkin? Nothing... just background. So without further ado here's... red pumpkin/butternut squash easy, simple, totally vegan, and gluten free.

Maharashtiran  Style Red Pumpkin/Butternut Squash

Here's What You Need:
3 cups of cubed butternut squash
2 Tbs vegetable oil (I always use coconut oil)
6 curry leaves (if you don't have them just omit as there's no real substitute)
1/2 tsp brown mustard seed
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp chopped shallot
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp kashmiri chili
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:
Get your spices together.

 Chop the shallot.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.

When the oil is hot add in the mustard, curry leaves, and cumin seeds.

When the mustard seeds start to pop and cumin seeds start to toast  (this happens fast so be prepared) add in the shallot.
Saute for about 30 seconds.

Add the squash cubes...

...turmeric, kashmiri chili powder, garam masala and salt.

Add in  1/2 cup of water.

Stir everything together well, and put a lid on things.

Let everything cook for about 12 minutes.

Check the vegetable every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.
When it's cooked through, serve it up garnished with the chopped cilantro.

All you need with this for a perfect lunch is some spiced Basmati rice and a roti or two and you are golden! All it takes is about 30 minutes from start to finish and that in my opinion makes it the perfect working weekday meal.

Coming up next...more vegetables of course and there always has to be something sweet. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori . Stay tuned...no flipping!

Garden to Table, Bengali 5 Spice Eggplant, An Indian Take On Ratatouille.

      
   I love Fall weather here in Sonoma, we still have warm days, yet the nights get chillier and chillier as we edge toward Deep Fall and Winter. This time of year always brings with it my very favorite vegetables, not the least among them Butternut Squash. When we planted our garden this year one of the first things I knew I wanted was Butternut Squash. It's one of the most versatile vegetable out there. I make soup, curries, ravioli filling, and koftas among other things. In my kitchen it runs the gamut from Indian food to Italian favorites for the family holidays.
  
   The Indian kitchen  has many recipes that call for squash and pumpkin. These two vegetables are pretty much interchangeable; most of the canned pumpkin we find in the markets is actually butternut squash.

    In fact Lord Google says: canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the pumpkins frequently carved as jack-o'-lanterns for decoration around Halloween.

Experiments with pumpkins can be spotty at best. I have stuffed and baked large whole pumpkins no problem, but when it comes to smaller items like vegetarian side dishes, curries, and koftas I prefer to rely on butternut squash.
 
   Our butternut squash harvest this year is immense!! Two plants have sent runners and squashes all over the backyard in a colonizing pattern. Harvesting is like tippy toeing through a mine field. I don't want to step on the squash or trip over the vines.  So, I carefully harvested a likely looking specimen.

Eggplants are bidding a fond farewell to the garden so we're using them up quickly along with the serrano chilies which are turning red. This is a real "use up what one has on hand" dish.

   I used eggplant, butternut squash, and potato, but you might try zucchini, pumpkin, whatever you have plenty of. Like the traditional French Ratatouille, this is a simple stewed vegetable dish but instead of adding the usual French spices, the Bengalis make their vegetable stew with a mixture of 5 spices, aka Panch Phoran , and there is the difference. A Panch Phoran is a mixture of roasted and ground spices, found in the Eastern regions of India, particularly Bangladesh. This is a great spice mixture to have on hand so make a bunch. Once your spices are toasted and mixed you're in business for future dishes.

Bengali 5 Spice Eggplant

Here's What You Need:
1 Eggplant
1 Butternut squash
1 large boiling potato ( I used a Yukon Gold)
2 dried red chilies broken in half (I use chile arbol from Rancho Gordo Foods)
1 Tbs Bengali 5 Spice Mixture *
2 Tbs vegetable oil. I use coconut oil
2 Tbs chopped fresh curry leaves. (if you don't have these leave them out for there is no substitute)
5 cups of mixed vegetables (eggplant pumpkin, squash, peas) cut up into 1 inch pieces
1 cup of peas fresh, or defrosted frozen
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:
Make your five spice blend.

* Bengali 5 Spice Mixture (aka Panch Phoran mixture)
 Mix together
2/3 cup cumin seeds

1/3 cup fennel seeds
1/4 cup black mustard seeds

3 Tbs kalongi,aka nigella, aka black onion seeds
2 Tbs fenugreek seeds

Heat a cast iron pan
when the pan is hot put al of the spices in it.

Stir them around dry roasting them until they turn warm and fragrant. This takes about 2 minutes.
Let them cook then store them in an airtight jar.

This will make a LOT more of this spice mix than you need, so save it for other dishes. Bingo, Panch phoran!   Now back to the recipe.

Peel and cut your potato...

...eggplant...

...and butternut squash into 1 inch pieces.

Mix the raw vegetables together and set them aside.
Take your chopped curry leaves, and  2 dried red chilies broken in half and set them aside.

In a skillet or kadhai heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil. I use Sonoma Harvest Organic Coconut Oil

When the oil is hot, toss in the dried red chili pieces.
Stir them around until they start to tuirn color, about 30 sconds is allit takes if you oil is hot.
Add the 5 spice powder (NOTE: You can grind the Tbs of spice powder before you add it, though I prefer to use the spices whole for this recipe.)

Add the chopped curry leaves and vegetables right away.

Stir everything around and cook the vegetables until they start to turn golden.

This takes about 10 minutes. If you need to add a bit more oil, to keep things from sticking, go ahead.
Once the vegetables have cooked down add the  paprika...

...salt, and sugar.

Mix it all together, turn down the heat and put a lid on things. If you are adding fresh peas put them in now. Cook for about 10 minutes. Check it every once in a while to stir things up make sure nothing's burning. If things start to get too dry you can add about 1/4 cup of water. About 5 minutes before you're done cooking; add the defrosted frozen peas if that's the type you're using.

When everything is tender; put it in a dish, chop the cilantro and sprinkle it over the vegetables and serve it up.

this is a delicious and simple dish than can be made with a lot of different vegetables: Just use what you have on hand. It goes from garden to table in about 1/2 hour and you can't beat that for healthy, fast food. Coming up next, something sweet. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori