Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry (Wattaka Kalu Pol)

Pumpkin Curry ??? No ways. Going by the way most people feel about this humble vegetable, I had actually put off posting the recipe. But leafing though my diary to sort out/refresh some of the low oil dishes that I have cooked over the years, I stumbled upon this gem of a recipe. I had first watched this curry being prepared by an old Sri Lankan lady on television but I could not catch all the ingredients that go into the making of this dish. So, when I searched for this recipe on the net, I stumbled upon Dani Venn's blog . She has a great collection of recipes and please do check them when you have the time.

Coming back to the recipe, I decided to stay true to the ingredients used (though I skipped the rice and desiccated coconut paste) but made some minor change in the order in which they go into the dish. Call it 'cultural conditioning' or whatever you like, but I could not understand the logic behind adding the tempering ingredients after frying the onion, ginger and garlic :). The curry turned out to be delicious (and amazingly aromatic) despite using so less oil.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 25 mins

Ingredients -

For curry powder -

• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3 cardamon pods
• 2-3 dry red chilis
• Sprig of curry leaves
• 1 1/2 inch long cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon rice
• 1 tsp turmeric powder

Others -

• 1 tsp rice bran oil
• 1 medium sized onion(finely chopped)
• 3 garlic flakes (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger (finely chopped)
• 1 red chili (broken into small pieces)
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp fenugreek seed
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 sprig curry leaves
• 2 pandan leaves, roughly torn into pieces
• 500g pumpkin (peeled & diced into 1 1/2 inch cubes)
• 2 cups thick coconut milk

Preparation - Heat a frying pan. Add the rice to it and roast for 2-3 mins. Then add all other spices (except for turmeric) mentioned under 'For curry powder' and roast till they give off their fragrance.

Remove from flame and allow to cool down. Grind into a fine powder and mix turmeric with it. Since this is more than what you need for the curry, keep the rest of it in an air-tight bottle in the fridge.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the broken red chili, mustard and fenugreek seeds to it. Once they start popping, add the onions. Fry till translucent.

Add the chopped ginger and garlic. Fry for 2 mins before adding all the powdered spices.

Fry for a minute and then add the curry leaves, pandan leaves and pumpkin cubes.

Add the coconut milk to the wok and let it simmer on a low flame.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, add 2 levelled teaspoons of the curry powder and mix it well. (Add more curry powder if you like it spicy).

Remove from the flame and serve hot with white rice and yogurt.

Random snaps from my parents' Garden

Lemons waiting to be harvested. I rediscovered the heavenly taste of lime juice made from ripe lemons plucked right off the tree.

                                                                                                         
                                                               

The 'Annapurna' or Kewda/Kewra leaves. These very fragrant leaves were used to flavor Kheer or Chawal in earlier times. With a plethora of exotic spices being available these days, they are becoming something of a rarity. Pure nostalgia. They are also known as Pandan leaves.

Turmeric leaves waiting to be harvested for Prathamasthami. These form the outer warp of the 'Enduri pitha', a must have on the day. The fragrance of these leaves is very enticing.

Kalama sagaa vine bearing beautiful white flowers. The leaves and flowers if this plant are edible and quite a delicacy.

Betel nut (Paan) vine stealthily climbing the outer walls of the house. While a paan is usually offered to the guests by the host at the end of a typical Indian meal, the leaves have much religious importance too.






'Arbi' or Colocassia plant growing in the shade of a mango tree. While it is still time for the leaves to wither off and the 'arbi' lying under the soil to mature,  there is no stopping me from sampling a yummy chutney made from these tender leaves.