Pumpkin kootu curry recipe
Sharing a delicious pumpkin curry recipe,(no garlic and no onion) that can be served with rice, chapathi, puri, phulka or pulao. Pumpkin is a low calorie vegetable that is nutrient rich and is one of the best suited vegetable for everyone including diabetics and also for folks trying to lose weight.
Apart from making pumpkin curry, we also use it to make sambar, gummadikaya pulusu, gummadikaya pappu, pumpkin masala or a pumkin halwa or kheer. This recipe is more like a Udupi style kootu, hence can be called a pumpkin kootu or a pumpkin curry.
Pumpkin is called as gummadikaya in telugu, kaddu in hindi, parangikai in tamil. I have used a pumpkin like the one you see in the picture below. I suppose similar variety works well for this recipe.
Pumpkin curry recipe below
Pumpkin curry recipe
pumpkin curry made with ground spices and coconut in a kootu style. No onion and garlic are used. Makes a good side dish to accompany rice, chapathi, phulka or poori
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
to roast and grind
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds (daniyalu)
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chana dal (senaga pappu)
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds or urad dal (minapappu) or 4 whole cashew nuts
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 to 4 tbsp coconut grated (adjust to suit your liking)
- 3 red chilies broken
for seasoning/tempering
- 1 Pinch hing /asafoetida
- 1 red chili broken
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 ½ tbsp ghee or oil
other ingredients
- 2 cups pumpkin red, cubed / gummadikaya / kaddu
- 1 tomato large, chopped finely (optional)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- salt as needed
- 1 tsp tamarind paste (optional if needed)
How to make the recipe
- Dry roast red chilies, chana dal and urad dal till golden. If using poppy seeds skip urad dal.
- To the same pan add poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon and lightly roast. Don’t let them burn. Cool completely and powder these in a blender to a fine powder. To the same jar, add coconut along with little water and blend to a smooth paste. If you do not own a powerful blender, let the mixture soak for about 30 minutes in water and make a fine paste.
- Heat a pan with ghee or oil on a low flame, add mustard, cumin and red chili. When they begin to splutter, add curry leaves and hing. Set aside little of this seasoning for garnishing. I set aside few curry leaves and red chili along with very little mustard and cumin.
- To the pan add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Fry the tomatoes till they turn soft, mushy and dry. If needed cover and cook, you can even sprinkle little water if your tomatoes are hard.
- Add pumpkin cubes and fry evenly for about 2 to 3 minutes. Ensure that the tomatoes turn completely mushy and dry before adding pumpkin.
- Add 1 to 1.5 cups of water to the pan and bring it to a boil. Add the ground paste, stir well and check the salt and sourness. If you like to have it sour you can add tamarind paste, but I did not use.
- Cook it on a low flame till the pumpkin is cooked. If needed you can cover and cook. Don’t overcook, pumpkin turns mushy. Keep stirring, the mixture tends to stick at the bottom due to the dals and poppy seeds used.
- Transfer pumpkin curry to a serving bowl and garnish with the set aside seasoning of curry leaves and broken red chilies.
NUTRITION
Calories: 185kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 666mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 7520IU | Vitamin C: 112.4mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2.9mg
Notes
Make sure that the roasted ingredients and coconut are ground to a smooth paste else the curry may not turn out smooth.
Zanna says
This dish is the kind of delicious that has everyone asking for more, but it’s so easy we can just relax & enjoy in the kitchen. I make it every time I have pumpkin. Even with sweet potato it comes out good. Thank you for a favourite recipe! <3
swasthi says
Hi Zanna,
You are welcome! Glad you like it. Oh yes! sweet potatoes would be nice. I also make this with mixed veggies. Turns out great. Thanks for the comment!
Swapna Shah says
Absolutely lip-smacking, thank you so much!
swasthi says
Welcome Swapna
Wardah says
Hey, which is the best blender to make coconut based paste?
swasthi says
I use ultra, national panasonic & Morris blenders. Morris is just a 40 $ product and works well for any kind of paste. Thanks for visiting.
Anu says
Lovely recipe. It came out very well. Loved it a lot.
swasthi says
Thanks Anu
Sari says
Excellent, I loved this one!!! Didn’t have coconut, so I used thin coconut milk instead of water. My curry was very tasty!
swasthi says
Thanks Sari for the feedback. Appreciate your effort to share with us how the food turns out. Have a good day
saras says
Fantastic gravy!! looks yummm
indu srinivasan says
delicious finger licking gravy.
Suja Manoj says
Yummy curry,perfect with rice
Vimitha says
Never tried any dish with pumpkin. Looks so creamy and yum
veena says
this looks amazing.. Love the flavour…