Cooking Pumpkin curry – Nepali style

When we say curry, the first thing that comes to our mind is the hot and spicy vegetable or meat gravy. But, curries do not always have to be hot and spicy, rather it could be sweet and creamy. Thus, Pumpkin curry is such Nepali cuisine which is rich and creamy and its taste enhanced with the various Nepali species. It is also healthy, as pumpkins are known to be rich in vitamin and good for health, especially eyes.



Here is a brief direction on how to make a creamy and delicious pumpkin curry.

Ingredients:

1 lb pumpkin, washed, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

5-6 medium sized potatoes cut in same size as the pumpkin

3 dried red chilies

1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp whole timur (Szechwan pepper)

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp minced ginger

1tsp cumin powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

3 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

Salt to taste

Procedure:

First of all, heat a non-stick pan and add 3 tablespoon of clarified butter. When the butter is heated, splitter fenugreek seeds, whole timur, mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them turn dark. Now, fry dried red chilies for about fifteen seconds. When it turns dark, add garlic, ginger, ground pepper, cumin powder and turmeric powder and fry the mixture for one minute in low heat.

Now, add pumpkin and potato pieces to the spice mixture and stir fry for around two minutes and then, add salt according to your taste. After that, add broth and let it simmer until both, the pumpkin and the potato pieces, becomes tender and the excess liquid evaporates. Then again, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Now your pumpkin curry is ready to be served with rice or roti.