Plumpy sweet pumpkin

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients: 1 cup peeled, deseeded, and cut pumpkin, for grinding: ¼ cup fresh coconut, 1 green chilli, ½” ginger, few coriander leaves, 1 cup fresh curd, ½ tsp sugar, salt to taste

Method: Cook the pumpkin and mash. Grind all the ingredients to be ground to a fine consistency along with the mashed pumpkin. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with crackers, chips or toasted bread.

Pumpkin Crepes

Ingredients: 1/2 cup peeled, deseeded, cut pumpkin, 1½ cup milk, 1 cup fine sooji, 1 tbsp sugar, a pinch of salt, unsalted butter as required, vanilla essence – ¼ tsp, stuffing: 2-3tbsp honey, 1 banana (cut into narrow disks)

Method: Soak sooji in milk for half an hour. Meanwhile cook and mash the pumpkin. Grind soaked sooji, pumpkin, and sugar, and set aside for an hour to make the crepe batter. Add vanilla essence to the batter. Heat a broad non-stick frying pan (tawa) and add a blob of butter. Before it melts completely, pour a ladle of batter on the tawa. Swirl the tawa and keep it on the stove till the edges of the crepe are brown. Remove from the heat. Gently release crepe from tawa. Spread some honey and the chopped banana over half of it and fold over the other half and serve hot.

Pumpkin Halu Kootu

Ingredients: 1 cup peeled, deseeded and cut pumpkin, to grind: 1/2 cup fresh coconut, 2 red chillies, 1 tsp mustard seeds, a few coriander seeds, 1 tsp rice flour, ½ cup milk, ½ tsp turmeric, for seasoning: 1tbsp pure ghee, a few cashews, a few curry leaves, salt to taste, ¼ tsp asafoetida

Method: Cook pumpkin in milk on medium heat till fork tender. Add water if necessary. Meanwhile, grind the masala to fine consistency, adding water. Combine cooked pumpkin and masala. Boil for 2-3 minutes till aroma emits. To season, heat ghee in a small kadai, fry cashewnuts till golden brown, add curry leaves and asafoetida and pour over the prepared kootu. Serve with chapathis, puris or hot rice.

Pumpkin Pasand

Ingredients: 1 pumpkin, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 tbsp dry roasted poppy seeds, 3 tbsp sugar

Method: Peel deseeded pumpkin and cut into thin boat shaped slices. Place a broad skillet on medium heat.

Melt a blob of butter. Add the pumpkin slices and cook on both sides till it is fork tender. While still hot, sprinkle with sugar and poppy seeds. Serve hot.