Cooking with Vegetable of the Season:Yellow Pumpkin Dip/Raitha

                                                      Yellow Pumpkin Dip/Raitha

Yellow Pumpkin Dip/Raitha

Yellow pumpkin - vegetable that we can find everywhere during the fall,it can be spotted as a jack o lantern at door entrance,as a fall decor amid hay or just a center piece by itself ,a carved fall pumpkin the list goes on.When it comes to cooking until a decade back I thought it could be used only in Sambar at the most in thogayal(cooked pumpkin ground with some Indian spices that can be mixed with rice and consumed).A friend of mine introduced to Pumpkin raitha,we call pachdi in south India, made with yogurt which sometimes will convert to dip replacing the yogurt with sour cream.I am amazed by many ways pumpkin can be cooked and it has myriad of nutrition values.It is rich in Vitamin A,C and E .All the three vitamins are related in enhancing the skin strength and apparently gives the glow. In my kitchen ,I cook at the minimum twice a week of yellow pumpkin (Wink,Wink, you can figure out why  the often frequency of making yellow pumpkin in my kitchen).Anyway this recipe can be prepared as raitha/pachdi with yogurt or transformed to a dip with sour cream .Here we go to the recipe.My picture shows the raitha/pachdi version.

                                           Yellow Pumpkin Dip/Raitha

Ingredients

1.Yellow Pumpkin - 2 cups cubed/grated  (wash the pumpkin prior to cubing ,so it doesn't get soggy)

2.Ginger grated -1/2 teaspoon(optional)

3.Black Pepper Powder - 1 teaspoon

4.Salt to taste.

5.Sour Cream - 1/2 cup

6.Oil-1/2 teaspoon.

7.Yogurt  -1/2 cup for the raitha/pachdi version

8.Curry Leaves -few for the raitha/pachdi version.

Method

1.On a medium flame ,pour oil in a wide mouthed pan,when the vapors start to come add the ginger,black pepper powder ,saute for couple of minutes.

2.Add the cubed/grated pumpkin ,add salt and reduce the flame to low and cover the pan.Keep checking in between and mix  well so it doesn't get burnt.

3.In about 5-10 minutes the pumpkin will start to cook and  get tender,with a spoon or ladle mash the pumpkin.

4.When it start to get thicker in consistency ,water starts to reduce,switch off the flame.

5.Let it cool ,once completely cooled off ,add the sour cream.

6.Enjoy the dip with cut veggies or pita chips.

Raitha Version

1.In step 1,substitute black pepper with  red chilies according to your spice level  , add 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds ,chana dal ( bengal gram), urad dal (black gram dal),cumin seeds and a pinch of hing(asafoetida) to the oil .

2.Replace sour cream with yogurt and garnish with curry leaves at the end.

Yellow Pumpkin Dip/Raitha