Kumaoni Kaddu Ki Sabji (Kumaoni (Indian) Pumpkin Savory)

Pumpkin whether it is green or the ripe yellow one both are highly nutritious as it is a good source of vitamin A. In Kumaon Kaddu (pumpkin) is made in many different ways. My grandmother use to rush to her kitchen garden, when we used to land at her place all of a sudden, and make Kaddu with Bhanhga (a Kumauni spice not to be confused with bhang which causes intoxication) andwe used to enjoy it with rice or puri. What a taste!!! Was it the love of my granny or the hunger  I do not know, but the taste is so vividly etched in my taste buds and memory. Not only my son and daughter but their spouses who are not Kumauni also love this preparation of pumpkin. I wish when my grandchildren are born they can also remember my cooking the same way as I do my grandmothers cooking!

Preparation Time:10 min

Cooking Time: 30-40 min

Servings: 8 medium servings

Ingredients Required For Making Uttaranchali Kaddu Ki Sabji:

• 500 gm. Red (ripe) pumpkin / Green Pumpkin

• 100 gm. Bhanga (Kumauni spice)

Bhanga Seeds

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 4 Red whole chilies

• Salt to taste

• 1/2Teaspoon turmeric powder

•  1/2Teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds

• 1 Pinch Asafoetida
• 1/2Teaspoon Jambu (Optional)

Jambu

• 5 ml. Mustard oil/Cooking oil

• 100 ml. Water

Direction For Making Uttaranchali Kaddu Ki Sabji:

• Remove all seeds and the soft inner portion to which seeds are attached.

• Wash the pumpkin after removing the seeds and the soft portion to which seeds are attached.

• Cut the pumpkin (Kaddu) to small pieces.

• In a cooker take

• Washed and cut Pumpkin

• 100 ml. water

• Salt

• Turmeric powder

• Close the lid and cook on high flame till pressure is built in the cooker.

• Lower the flame and cook for another 10 min.

• Switch off the gas, and allow the cooker to cool slowly.

• Take a thick bottom wok and heat it on high flame, when the wok is hot lower the flame.

• Add the bhanga seeds in the wok and roast the seeds with constant stirring till they become light brown color.

• Remove the roasted seeds in a bowl and allow them to cool.

• Grind the roasted seeds when they are cold to a smooth powder.

Roasted and powdered Bhanga

• Take oil in a thick bottom wok and heat on high flame till smoking hot. 

Mustard oil being heated in the wok

• Lower the flame and add mustard seeds, the let the seeds splutter for 30 sec.

• Add cumin seeds, whole red chili and cook for 30. Sec. The cumin seeds will splutter and become light brown and red chilies will become brown in color.

Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds and whole red chilies added to hot oil

• Add asafoetida and immediately add boiled pumpkin.

Boiled Pumpkin added to the seasoning

• Add salt if required.

• Add red chili powder and cook on low flame with regular stirring and mashing. 

Cooking the boiled pumpkin with regular mashing

• The pieces of boiled pumpkin should get mashed nicely.

Pumpkin pieces mashed and the vegetable getting thick

• Add the powder of roasted bhanga seeds.
  

   

  Roasted and Powdered Bhanga added to  of Green Pumpkin

Roasted and Powdered Bhanga added to Yellow pumpkin

• Mix nicely and cook for maximum 2 min.

Bhanga mixed and the vegetable being cooked for 2 min. more

• Add the juice of lemons and mix.

Lemon juice added and gas switched off

• Switch off the gas.

• Add grated ginger, cut green chili, and chopped cilantro.

• Cover and let the flavors of green chili, coriander and ginger soak in the vegetable.
• This vegetable can be stored in fridge for 10-15 days also.

 Serve hot with Dal-Chawal / Puri

Tips:

• Do not remove the peeling from pumpkin because it contains Vitamins.

• Do not add too much water while boiling the pumpkin as pumpkin itself contains lots of moisture and will lose water while being boiled.

• The bhanga should be ground to fine powder to get smooth vegetable and maximum flavor and taste of bhanga in the vegetable.

• One or two roasted red chilies and some salt can be added to roasted bhanga before grinding this ensures that the bhanga is ground to fine powder.

• Do not take out the lemon juice too much in advance as it will turn bitter; squeeze the lemon just before you have to add the juice to the vegetable.

Suggested Variations:

• Mustard oil is best for this preparation but if do not wish to use mustard oil then any other cooking oil can be used. Do not take ghee/dalda it will spoil the taste.
• 2-3 cm piece of jaggery can be added to the vegetable before adding lemon juice.
• Tamarind pulp can be used instead of lemon juice, but the flavor of lemon add to the taste of this preparation.
• Jambu added to the Tadka (tempering) gives heavenly flavor to this preparation so if you have it use it along with rest of the ingredients of tadka.

Uttaranchali Sabut Masoor Ki Dal (Whole Lentil broth)

A meal of Rice, Sabut Masoor ki Dal, Palak ki sabji, Sprout Salad and Coriander-Mint Chutney

Uttaranchali Sabut Masoor Dal (Whole Brown Lentil) 

Whole pulses and grains carry many nutrients which are lost during splitting the dal and removing the thin colorful layer each dal (Pulse) has. The top layer is rich in vitamin B, Thus each of us should include the whole grains and pulses in our diet. Masoor dal is light brown to dark brownish grey in color from outside and orange in color from inside. Easy to digest very good in taste this dal can be combined with many other split pulses to make a mix pulse savory (Mixed dal). Best combination is Sabut masoor dal with plain boiled rice and some green vegetable and of course coriander – mint chutney which is such an integral part of Kumaoni meal. In Kumaon onion, garlic is not used for seasoning of any dal because many people avoid onion and garlic. I wish to tell something, the reason of which I have not understood till date, is that Masoor dal (Whole/Split), onion, garlic was forbidden for widows in Kumaon along with many other taboos. Why??? Things have changed for good since my generation.

Preparation Time: 5 min.

Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

Servings: 4 Large Servings

Nutritional value Daal made from of 150 gm Sabut Masoor (Whole brown lentil) : (Approx.) 

Energy : 190 cals. 

Fats : 4gm

Carbs : 30 gm

Cholesterol : 0 

Dietary fibers : 12 gm

Proteins : 13gm

Sugars : 3gm

Sodium : 10 mg

Potassium : 731 mg

Vitamins : folates, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Naicin B6, Pentanoic acid 

Micronutrients: Selinium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Copper. 

Due to high fiber content sabut masoor helps in avoiding constipation. 

It helps in lowering HDL and increases LDL. 

Helps in avoiding gestational diabetes. 

Ingredients Required For Making sabut Masoor dal (Whole Lentil):

• 150 gm. Whole Lentil (Sabut Masoor dal)

• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

• 1 Pinch of Asafoetida

• 2-3 Whole Red Chilies

• 5 ml. Ghee

• 1 Teaspoon Jambu (Optional)

Jambu a Herb of higher region of Himalayas

• 4-5 Cloves

• 2 cm. Piece of Cinnamon

• Salt to taste

• 1/2Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• 500 ml. Water

Directions For Making Sabut Masoor Dal:

• Clean and wash the masoor dal nicely.

• Soak washed dal in ml. water for 30 min.

• Add

• Turmeric

• Cinnamon

• 2 Cloves

• Salt

• Boil the dal and spices mixture till dal is soft to touch. (Dal should get mashed when pressed between fingers). 

Boiled Sabut Masoor

• Heat ghee in a pan and when the ghee is smoking hot, lower the flame.

• Add 
• 2-3 cloves

• Jeera (Cumin seeds)

• Whole red chilies

• Jambu

• Hing (Asafoetida).

• Cook for 30 sec. (The jambu and red chilies should become light brown in color. Wonderful aroma will come. Seasoning is ready.

Tadaka (Seasoning) for Sabut Masoor Ki Dal

• Add the seasoning (Tadaka) to boiled dal and cover the dal.

• Add water to the dal if the dal is too thick for your liking and give just one boil. 

Uttaranchali Sabut Masoor Ki Dal

• Serve hot with rice with Palak / methi / lai vegetable as side dish.

Rice, Sabut Masoor ki dal, Palak ki sabji, Sprout Salad and Coriander Mint Chutney

Tips:

• Do not boil the dal so much that it dissolves in water. The dal should be visible but soft.

• Do not add too much water. Watery masoor dal does not taste good.

• If the dal is soaked and cooked in pressure cooker then it takes 10 min. for the dal to be cooked. In open vessel it takes at least 45 min.

Suggested Variations:

• Jambu is not available everywhere therefore instead of jambu pinch of oregano can be taken.

• Though garlic and onion are not used in Kumaon in dal but sabut Masoor tastes great with the tempering of onion and garlic with predominantly garlic flavor.

• Cut finely

• One small onion

• 8-10 cloves of garlic

• 1 green chili

• 2 cm. Piece Ginger

• Shallow fry onion and garlic in hot ghee till light brown.

• Add ginger and green chili. Cook for one min.

• Add boiled dal and cook with stirring till it starts boiling.

• Remove from heat and serve.

Ras and Gude/रस और गूदे (Uttarankand's Thick Black Soup and savory Of Whole Pulses)

Ras with Rice and Gude

Ras

 Ras in Hindi as well in Kumaoni language means juice. No other name could have been better than Ras which is a thick black color soup made from the mixture of whole pulses available in Uttarankahand in some parts (Pithoragarh) it is called Chudkani. The high light of this savory are the black and brown flat grams available in Kumaon.  These are known by the name of Bhatt (Black) and Gahat (Brown/ reddish brown). Gahat is available in Maharashtra also and is called Hulga. Since Ras has lots of different whole pulses thus it has almost all type of proteins required by us as it is cooked in Iron wok thus rich in iron also. Ghee (Clarified butter) is used to prepare the seasoning which adds the great flavor to Ras. The Boiled dal mixture is used to make dry savory as a side dish and is called Gude.In Kumaon Ras is taken with simple plain boiled rice along with lai/Palak sabji and Mooli, Bhanga (A seeds used as spice in Kumaon) ki chutney. It is winter special and Kumaon is cold in summers and coldest in winter so there it is made throughout the year.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 90 minutes

Servings: 8 Large Servings

Ingredients Required For Making Ras: (Measurements are of a tea cup having 120 ml. volumes)

• 1 cup Bhatt (Flat Black Beans). Also known as black Soya bean

Bhatt (Black Beans)

• 1 1/2Cup  Gahat (Brown Beans/Kultha/ Vicia faba equina)

Gahat (Hulga/Kultha) Vicia faba equina

• 1/2Cup Bengal gram

Kala Chana(Bengal Gram)

• 1/2Cup Chick Peas (Chole)

Chick Peas (Chole)

• 1/2Cup Rajma (Any variety)

Rajma

• 1 Cup Kali Urd (Sabut Urd/Whole Urd)

• 2-3 cm. Piece of Cinnamon

• 4-5 Cloves

• 15-20 ml. Ghee

• 1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds

• 3-4 Whole Red Chilies

• 1 Teaspoon Jambu (Optional)

Jambu

• 1 Pinch Hing (Asafoetida)

• Salt to taste

• 2 Teaspoon Garam Masala

Directions For Making Ras (Cudkani):

• Clean all whole grams nicely and mix them.

Mixture of Whole Pulses(Sabut Dal) for Ras

• Wash the mixture of dals till clear water comes out.

• In a pressure cooker take

• Washed mixture of dals

• 500-600 Lt. Water

•  Lawang (Cloves)

• Piece of Cinnamon

• 2 Tea spoon Salt

• 1 Tea spoon Turmeric Powder

• Close the lid and heat on high flame till pressure builds in the cooker. Bring the heat to low and cook for 40-45 minutes.

• Switch off the heat and allow the cooker to cool.

• Open the cooled cooker and sieve the cooked contents through a sieve.

• Take all cooked solid and add 200 ml. water stir and sieve the liquid again.

• Repeat the process again. Mix all the three filtrates and put it in a big Iron wok.

Liquid Filtered from Boiled Dal Mixture

Boiled Dal Mixture After Sieving the Liquid

• Keep the iron wok with stock (Filtrate) on high heat till it starts boiling. Lower the heat and let it simmer till it reduces to half. The soup color will turn from brown to black. 

Filtrate (Liquid after filtering the boiled dal Mixture Boiling

• Add garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.

Garam masala Added to Black thick filterate

•  Add salt according to the taste.

•  In a Pan take 20-25 ml. ghee and heat it. When the ghee is smoking hot lower the flame and In the order written below add

• Cumin seeds

• Red Chilies

• Jambu

• Hing

Tadka (Seasoning for Ras)

• The seeds will become brown and splutter and wonderful odor of spices will start coming with in 30 second of cooking. Immediately add the seasoning to the contents in the wok.

Ras ready to be served

• Cover and let the flavor of seasoning seep to the Ras.

Ras

Directions For Mkaing Gude:

• The boiled dal mixture is used to make Gude.

• In a cooking vessel take mustard oil and heat it.

• When the oil is hot add 

• 1Tea spoon Cumin seeds

• 1Tea spoon Mustard Seeds

• 4-5 Whole Red Chilies

• Pinch of Asefoetida

• The seeds will splutter and chilies will become dark in color , lower the flame and add the boiled dal mixture and mix nicely.
• Add 
• Salt to taste

• 1 Tea spoon Amchur

• 1Tea spoon Red chili powder and mix nicely.

• Cover and cook for 10-15 min. with occasional stirring.

• Gude are ready.

• Serve Gude with Ras-Bhat (Rice) as side dish with a wedge of lemon.

• Gude can be had as chat/snack with some finely cut onion,cilantro and lemon juice mixed with it.

Gude

• Serve piping hot Ras with Rice, And any green vegetable, Gude, Slices of Mooli (radish) or it can be had as soup also.

• A dollop of Ghee on the top of Ras does wonder.

Tips:

• Gahat should always be more than Bhatt. You can increase the ratio of Gahat: Bhatt to 2:1.

• While serving 1 teaspoon of ghee can be added to Ras. It does wonders to taste and flavor.

• If your wok is small then you can boil some amount of filtrate from boiled whole first and when its volume reduces then keep adding more till all is cooked in wok and reduced to half.

• Garnishing of Ras with finely cut cilantro enhances the flavor of Ras.

• Many people add rice/wheat/flour to thicken Ras I prefer taking more dal mixture and boiling it to absolute softness then boiling the extract of the boiled dal till it comes to the thick consistency of my requirement.

• Adding flour changes the taste the idea is to have good Ras not to save Dal (Whole pulses mixture).

• Do not add Tur/Masoor/Moong/Chana dal to Ras.

Suggested Variations:

• Now a day’s most of the people do not have Iron wok. Even if the Extract of boiled dal mixture is cooked in any other wok than iron wok the color will become blackish-brown and taste will not be too different than the original taste.

• If you do not have iron wok then to bring the taste of Ras as near to original as possible you can put two three big iron (Not steal nails or pins) nails after washing them well and packing them in a piece of cloth to dal extract while it is boiling in wok then removing them before seasoning (Tadka). (Big nails will be removed without difficulty. Never put small nails).

• Finely cut onion and garlic can be sauteed till light brown and this seasoning can be added to Ras. My experience is that Ras should be given Tadaka of the spices I have mentioned in the recipe even if you do not have Jambu it does not matter. 
• Gude can be had without tempering or seasoning. 2 teaspoon of mustard oil and some amchur (Dry raw mango powder), green chilies, cilantro added to the boiled dal left after the extract is removed tastes classic.