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Banner Kashmiri Pumpkin

Kashmiri Pumpkin Curry

Food Preparation, ,

  • Why Pumpkin?

    A pumpkin patch grew out of out compost pile and it was a ready to display for Halloween. But then what to do. It hung out until December and it was time to bring it in and do something before it rotted. I saw a show about Kashmir recently ( Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan ) and thaPumpkint is where pumpkins come from originally and ridged squash too, in the vernacular that they used on the show, that must mean squash with ridges, like acorn squash. I figured there must be some good Kashmiri recipe out there for pumpkin. What else is going to be done with it, it is large and would make more than a pie, so it might as well get used in a new an different way.

     

    Ingredients

  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 cm (1½ inch) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 1 large red chilli, halved and deseeded
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roughly crushed
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, roughly crushed
  • 5 cardamom pods, crushed
  • 1.4 kg (2¾ lb) pumpkin, deseeded and peeled
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 15 g (½ oz) butter
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 cinnamon stick, halved
  • 450 ml (¾ pint) vegetable stock
  • 150 ml (¼ pint) double cream
  • 50 g (2 oz) pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
  • small bunch of coriander, torn
  • salt and pepper
Onions and spices in pan for Kashmiri Pumpkin
Onions, garlic, ginger,chili and spices in pan for Kashmiri Pumpkin

Directions

Finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chill in a blender or food processor, or finely chop by hand, and mix with the crushed cumin, coriander and cardamom.

Slice the pumpkin into 2.5 cm (1 inch) wedges, then cut the wedges in half. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan, add the pumpkin pieces and fry for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Push the pumpkin to one side of the pan then add the onion mixture and fry until beginning to color.

Add the turmeric, paprika and cinnamon, cook briefly then stir in the stock. Season and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the pumpkin is almost cooked. Allow to cool, cover and chill until required.

When ready to serve, add half the cream, half the pistachios and half the coriander leaves. Reheat until piping hot. Drizzle with the remaining cream, and sprinkle with the remaining pistachios and coriander. Serve with naan breads and a tomato and onion salad.

 

Resource

http://www.aol.co.uk/living/food/kashmiri-pumpkin-curry/903/

hungarian-pancakes

Hungarian Pancakes

Recipes, Television, , , , , , , , , ,

Inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, episode aired February 24, 2014, between 11-12PM EDT.

I have made pancakes with potatoes and onions before but, watching this episode made me experiment with paprika, garlic, old bay. Plus I generally like to put a little bit of curry and or turmeric in too, it helps stabilize the potatoes as they tend to oxidize quickly once chopped. I have noticed red potatoes are better in this regard; they take a long time to discolor.

4 medium size potatoes
1 small onion
2 clove garlic
2 heaping tbsp white flour
1 egg, I used a large one
1 tsp turmeric or curry, more if you like
1 tsp baking powder
Oil or fat for the fan frying. I used coconut oil and bacon fat.

The following to taste
Salt
Paprika
Old Bay

1. Cut up the potatoes and onions, add in garlic cloves and run through a food processor on chop mode.
2. Dump into a bowl and add salt, mix.
3. In a second bowl add flour and other dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.
4. Start preheating pan, put the oil and fat in it. This is not deep frying, so coat the pan but coat generously.
5. Add egg to potato, onion and garlic bowl and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the premixed dry ingredients in slowly while mixing in. Slowly prevents lumps of flour from forming.
7. When the pan is hot enough, like when a drop of water will sizzle in it; drop in a serving spoon sized amount of the mixture and flatten it out a bit with a spatula.
8. After a few seconds, when it has set, shimmy the pan around so the oil can get under it and all around the edges.
9. When it is golden brown on the bottom flip it over and get the other side golden brown. This requires a guess, based on size the time may vary. The first few might get flipped over a few times until you get the timing down.
10. When done, place on a plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil. I like to keep them in the over on warm until I am done with the whole batch.

These pancakes are good as a side to many dishes and are a different way to use potatoes. The DDD episode shows them topped with goulash which looked great. The first time I made them I used them as “buns” for a nice grass-fed beef hamburger (Wegmans has great grass-fed beef). It was a great tasting and filling too.

potato-pancakes
Hungarian Pancakes