Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Pumpkin and Eggplant Curry


A while ago, I saw a recipe for eggplant and pumpkin/butternut squash curry on Suganya's blog and have been wanting to make it since. Well, I finally got around to making it with my own modifications. In my frantic rush on the night I made this, I totally forgot to add mustard seeds and urad dal to season it. I had originally thought to do this, but it was great even without these! Thanks, Suganya, for the inspiration!

I chose to use some of the curry powder that Cham sent to me as the main flavoring to this dish. The end creation was a vegetarian dish that gives you the same satisfaction as eating a non-veg dish. (I think carnivores understand what I mean, right?)

I will qualify this by saying that if you're not a fan of pumpkin to begin with, this dish might not convert you to being a pumpkin lover. However, combining it with another vegetable, and adding spices definitely cuts the sweetness and makes it taste great. So, I'd still urge you to try this out. If you really hate pumpkin, you could try using potatoes or other types of squash instead for a different flavor.

Ingredients:

Yellow pumpkin - 1 cup, diced
Baby eggplant - 1 cup, diced
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Green chillies - 5, chopped (or to taste)
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
Cham's curry powder - 1 tbsp (you can use your favorite curry powder or sambar pwdr)
Black pepper powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp, per your taste
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan until it's extremely hot.

2. Add the eggplant and saute it on very high heat so that the edges char a bit and the eggplant softens slightly. Remove from the pan and cook the pumpkin in the same way (char it slightly on very high heat and remove from the pan).

3. In the same pan, heat a little more oil. Add the onions, green chillies, and curry leaves. Fry until the onions brown a bit.

4. Now, add the tomato and curry powder. Fry until the tomatoes soften and the raw smell of the masala goes away.

5. Add the cooked vegetables, salt, half a cup of water and cook on medium low until the vegetables are fully cooked and have absorbed the flavor of the masala.

6. Turn off the heat, add pepper powder, check seasoning. If desired, you can add a squeeze of lime juice to heighten the flavors. Suganya used coriander leaves at the end, but I had none on hand that day. Feel free to use them if you like!

Tastes great with any roti, chappathi, etc.

Dinner anyone?

17 comments:

FH said...

Looks mouthwatering. I love Butternut squash curry, never combined with Eggplants. Sounds good to me!:)

Cham said...

I am ready to come over kalai. U r right the powder makes u feel even the veg are meaty. It really looks great with roti dear :) I don't have pumpkin in fridge :((

Laavanya said...

That would be a combination that will need a lot of convincing before i can get my husband to taste it.. but it looks real good to me.

Dhivya said...

wonderful combination kalai:)pic looks yummy

Kalai said...

Thanks, Ashakka! You should definitely try it! :)

I'm waiting, Cham! :) You can try it with just eggplant, or with zucchini, chow chow, potato, etc.

Laavanya, same with mine! I loved it, but he's not a huge pumpkin fan. Oh, well! :)

Dhivya, thank you dear! :)

sra said...

This is quite a traditional combination, actually. We make this with a tamarind gravy.

Unknown said...

that curry will taste gr8 with garam rotis...looks yum:)

Anonymous said...

Wow...your dish looks delicious!!! And your rotis look so soft!!! Great use of the curry powder.

Lavanya Raj said...

Looks great kalai..will try this..as my hubby yesterday was asking me to cook pumpkins here after.(which i was avoiding all these days)

EC said...

Nice and new combi in side dish

Uma said...

the curry looks so good,Kalai! lovely combo of veggies.

Prema Sundar said...

pumpkin and brinjal.. sounds to be a nice combo and the curry looks wonderful with rotis.

AnuSriram said...

Looks gr8 kalai! Nice recipe!

Madhavi said...

Hey...wonderful recipe, will try soon and let u know, thanx for sharin' :))

Kalai said...

Sra, I didn't know that. Would love to see a recipe, if you have one! :)

Saswati, thank you! :)

Homecooked, thank you for the kind words! :)

Lavi, please do try it. You might like it, too! :)

Kalai said...

Glad you liked it, EC! :)

Uma, thank you! :)

Prema, it was a nice change! :)

Anu, thanks! :)

Welcome to my blog, Madhavi! Looking forward to your feedback! :)

Suganya said...

This shows I am not blog-hopping regularly. Kalai, I am so glad you tried this recipe. If you are not a big fan of squash, increase the ratio of brinjal. Also, cutting squash into fine cubes mellows the sweetness. Thanks for the mention :)