Vegan Butternut Squash/ Pumpkin Coconut Curry ~ Kaddu ki sabzi~Parangikkai kootu

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Weekends are usually when I plan more elaborate menus and potter around in  the kitchen way longer than usual. But even on the weekends there are days when the idea of a simple lunch combination, sounds way more appealing than an elaborate lunch.  Something hot, tasty, simple and nourishing sounds like heaven on such days. A few weeks back when I was in the mood for a simple weekend lunch, I made this combination of butternut squash kootu and more kozhambu.

Kootu is a kind of a South Indian curry that is simply flavored with coconut and green chilies. This kind of curry is made with a variety of vegetables, and works amazingly well with any vegetable in the squash family. Paired with some more kozhambu/ South Indian kadhi/ buttermilk curry and some plain steamed rice, even this simple lunch ended up being quite a treat :)

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Ingredients and Method to make butternut squash curry

1 butternut squash peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces = approx 4 cups of cut pieces (or pumpkin/ kaddu / parangikkai)

1/2 cup chickpea lentil ( chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder ( haldi/ manjal podi)

Salt to taste ( namak/ uppu)

Grind together

1/3 cup fresh grated coconut ( or frozen thawed to room temperature ) ( nariyal/ thengai)

3 Thai or Indian variety green chilies ( or to taste) (hari mirch/ pachai molagai)

Seasoning

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / kadagu )

1 tsp split black gram lentil ( udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)

8 to 12 curry leaves ( kadi patha/ karvapillai ) torn into small pieces for garnish (optional but recommended)

Soak chick pea lentil (chana dhal) in sufficient water for 1/2 an hour to an hour. Drain the lentils after an hour, place in a heavy bottomed pan with sufficient water and cook on stove top until it is almost cooked.

Add butternut squash/ pumpkin pieces, add turmeric powder and salt to taste, add a little water, close with a lid and cook until the butternut squash is cooked and soft, yet retains it's shape. 

In the meanwhile grind coconut and green chilies with a little water until it becomes a smooth paste. Add the coconut paste to the cooked butternut squash, adjust water as needed to achieve required consistency and simmer for a couple of minutes until the flavors mingle.

In a small pan heat oil, add mustard seeds, when the seeds begin to splutter, add split black gram lentil to it. Stir a few times, when the lentils begin to redden, pour the entire seasoning on the kootu/ curry.

Remove from heat, garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with some plain steamed rice and some sambar, rasam or more kozhambu on the side. This can also be served as a side dish for phulkas / flatbread.

If you are looking for butternut squash/ pumpkin recipes here are a few more,

Kaddu ka Bharta ~Butternut squash/ pumpkin curry

Kaddu ki sabzi ~ Butternut squash/ pumpkin curry

Vegan Curried Roasted Butternut squash soup

Egg Free Pumpkin Wheat Muffins

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Kaddu ka Bharta ~ Vegan Butternut squash / Pumpkin curry

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Fall is officially here, although some days it is so warm here that it feels more like summer than fall. But the vegetable section at our local grocery definitely feels like fall with the variety of squash available there. I like all kinds of squash, but butternut squash and pumpkins are particular favorites of mine. Both of these are so versatile that they can easily be used in everything from curries to soups to baking. Usually when I feel like making curry with butternut squash curry, I tend to make something simple like this curry . But recently when I purchased butternut squash I felt like making something "different" for a change of pace.

A quick search online led me to this recipe of kaddu ka bharta on Tarla Dalal's site that sounded intriguing. The only kind of bharta I have ever tasted is one made with eggplants/ baingan ka bharta. She had made the curry with pumkins/ kaddu but I decided to adapt and make something similar with butternut squash. If you are watching your calories, here is a cool bit of info about the calorie content of both butternut squash and pumpkins. 1 cup of 1 inch pieces of butternut squash has just 63 calories and pumpkin has even less with 1 cup of 1 inch pieces of pumpkin having just 30 calories. This was such an easy and flavorful curry, the four kinds of seeds used in it gives it a very unique flavor. It is also very easy to make and works well with any kind of phulka/ flat bread/ roti. 

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Ingredients and method to make kaddu ka bharta (adapted from this recipe)

8 cups of peeled and cubed pieces of butternut squash (or pumpkin/ kaddu/ paringikai)

1 red onion cut fine ( pyaaz/ vengayam)

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds ( jeera/ jeeragam)

1 tsp fennel seeds ( saunf / sombu)

1/2 tsp nigella seeds/ onion seeds ( kalonji / karunjeeragam)

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds ( methi seeds / mendiyam)

3 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut fine ( hari mirch/ pachai molagai)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder ( haldi/ manjal podi)

2 tsp dry mango powder ( amchur powder ) ( see notes )

Salt to taste ( namak/ uppu)

1/2 tsp red chili powder ( or to taste) ( lal mirch/ thani molaga podi) ( see notes)

3 - 4 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro for garnish ( coriander leaves/ hara dhania / kothamalli ) 

Peel and cube butternut squash/ pumpkin/ kaddu into 3/4 inch pieces. Cut onion and keep aside.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin, fennel, onion seeds and fenugreek seeds and stir a few times. When the seeds begin to sizzle and the fenugreek/ methi begins to brown a little add green chilies and onions and sauté until onions turn translucent.

Add butternut squash / pumpkin pieces, all the spices, salt to taste, a little water. Mix well, cover with a lid and cook until the squash/ pumpkin is cooked and soft. Stir frequently to ensure even cooking and add more water if required. Once the squash/ pumpkin is cooked, mash gently with the back of a spatula until some of the pieces are mashed and some still hold a bit more shape. Add more water if required to achieve required consistency and simmer for a few minutes until the flavors mingle.

Garnish with cilantro/ coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with phulkas/ flat bread/ rotis.

Serves approx 4 

Notes:

If you scale down the heat from green chilies/ chili powder, do scale down the dry mango powder/ amchur powder a tad bit.

This recipe can be halved if required.

If you are looking for curries that go well with phulkas/ rotis/ flatbread, here are a few more....

Butternut squash/ Pumpkin curry  ~ Kaddu ki sabzi

Mixed Vegetable Kurma ~ Broccoli Peas Curry

Tomato Coconut Curry ~ Thakkali Kozhambu

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Pumpkin Wheat Muffins (Egg Free)

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Before I go to the post, here is wishing all my readers who are celebrating Christmas today a very Merry Christmas. Hope you all are having a great time with family, friends and of course good food :) Moving on, baking with pumpkins has been on my to do list for the longest time. I have no idea why I resisted or waited so long to try anything with it. Anyway as they say, better late than never :) I finally got a chance to try this easy pumpkin muffins that were so soft and delicious that I just loved them. The combination of cinnamon and nutmeg adds a wonderful fragrance and flavor to these muffins.

 

And the best part, these muffins do not have any eggs or butter so they are a guilt free treat too :) I used this recipe as a reference for this muffin and I am so, so glad I tried these. Now I have many more pumpkin recipes swirling around my head, let me see how many recipes I actually end up making:)  Give this one a try and as always, let me know what you think about it.

 

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Ingredients and Method to make Pumpkin Muffins
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (Atta/ godumai maavu)
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour (maida)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
1 cup milk (use non diary milk for a vegan version)
1/4 cup oil

Pre heat oven @ 350 deg F (approx 180 deg C) Pre line a muffin tray with liners and keep aside.

In a large bowl, add flours, baking powder, soda, salt, spices and sugar and mix well.
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Add pumpkin puree and milk one at a time and slowly mix into the flour mixture. Add oil and mix well.

Spoon mixture into pre lined muffin cups until it is 2/3 full. Place in pre heated oven and bake for  17 to 22 mins or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

yielded 12 standard sized muffins

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