A yellow-orange squash, the pumpkin with its origin in Mexico is a favourite fruit(technically) /vegetable of mine. This moderately sweet vegetable lends itself to a medely of flavours with ease. Be it the preparation of tangy vathakuzhambu, spicy sambhar, bland olan, sweet parangikai kootu or hot and sweet launji this star ingredient definitely tingles your taste buds.
Today morning I decided to cook with this sunshine vegetable….. Vathakuzhambu was on my menu. As I began to cut through the hard skin the soft pith with crunchy fresh nuts caught my eye. My mother always turns this into a thogayal and yes I decided to do the same. A handful of black gram dal was roasted in sesame oil along with some red chillies, tamarind, asafoetida, and the soft pith. It was then coarsely ground into a hot-sweet nutty relish all ready to be gobbled up with hot steaming rice and a dollop of ghee. I also added a sprig of fresh curry leaves for flavour.
Recipe For Pumpkin Pith Thogayal:
- Pumpkin pith
- Black gram dal 2 tbsp
- Red chilli 3
- Tamarind small marble size
- Curry leaves few
- Asafoetida 1/4tsp
- Sesame oil 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
Preparation Method:
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Roast the dal till golden brown.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and saute for 2 minutes.
- Cool, add the required salt, and grind coarse without adding any water.
And here’s Pumpkin Pith Thogayal 🙂
