Pumpkin Dal

Pumpkin Dal Now that Halloween is past, I’ve got a pile of pumpkins I need to do something with. My preferred method of recycling is to eat them (squash have a ton of vitamin A). Here’s one of my favorite recipes, a nice warm pumpkin dal, which is just the thing to take you into late fall/early winter. It makes a ton, so you can either feed a crowd (or plan on freezing some for easy eating later).

Ingredients:

*Dal (The word “dal” is a pretty generic word that covers a huge spectrum of beans/pulses that are commonly eaten in India. The reason I’m being vague is because this recipe works well with almost anything. Probably the easiest thing to use is dried lentils, dried yellow peas, or some kind of mild white bean. Depending on the size of the pumpkin you’re using, you’ll either use 1 cup (dried) for a small pie pumpkin, or 2 cups (dried) for anything bigger.

1 Pumpkin (whatever you have leftover from Halloween), size doesn’t matter much. You’ll either need to peel it and chop it up into bite sized pieces first, then cook it until soft (tedious!), or skip all that and simply roast it in the oven at 300 degrees for a couple of hours (my preferred method-it turns into a nice soft mush and you can just scoop it out with a spoon and skip the knife work). If you’re using a jack-o-lantern (as opposed to a culinary variety), be aware they exude a lot of water during the cooking process.

1 Onion medium(chopped)

Oil for frying onion (coconut oil or ghee tastes even better, if you have those)

1 Tbsp curry powder (any kind you happen to have on hand will work)

Oil for frying onion (coconut oil or ghee tastes even better, if you have those)

Water (amount depends on dal being used-a general ratio is at least 3:1)

Salt to taste

Optional but good:

Garlic, finely minced (however much you like)

1 tsp Ginger (finely minced)

Chili pepper or cayenne (if you want it to be spicy)

1 tsp Amchar powder (powdered green mango)

1 tbsp chutney (whatever kind you like)

Cilantro, (finely chopped), to taste

Method:

Wash and chop pumpkin into bite size pieces without skin, and cook in a pan with a little water until soft/mushy—or simply roast whole in an oven for a few hours at 300 degrees, then scrape the soft flesh out of the skin and set aside for later. Regardless of how you get there, the pumpkin should be a pile of mush when you’re done.

Chop onion, and fry in a large pot (at least 6 qts is recommended) with the oil with the curry powder until onion is soft/translucent.

Add dal, and stir well (so that the dal soaks up the oil/spices.

Add an appropriate amount of water for dal being used. When in doubt, err on the side of too much since dal usually soaks up water like a sponge anyway.

Bring to a boil, stirring often to keep dal from sticking to the bottom of the pan and/or forming clumps. Add more water, as needed to maintain a nice soupy consistency.

When the dal is well-cooked (in most cases, rather soft/mushy), add the pumpkin and stir until well mixed.

Add any of the optional ingredients at this time.

Simmer on low heat for an additional 15 minutes or so.

Serve hot, as is; or you can serve with rotis, naan, or rice.