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Red Pumpkin Raita

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Red Pumpkin – the versatile winter squash

How do you use red pumpkin or kaddu or bhopla as they call in different languages, in your diet? It’s a winter squash with a mildly sweet taste and is versatile to cook. A cup of chopped red pumpkin packs a whole lot of punch in just under 50 calories. A low-calorie winter vegetable with loads of vitamins, fibers, and minerals to its credit 🙂

Poori, Sabzi, Soups n Raita…

Yes, the options of incorporating this delightful vegetable into your diet are many and all are equally good and lip-smacking. Many times, I make a khatti-meethi subzi (sweet n sour vegetable) with it, and sometimes a rich, creamy soup or gharge (sweet pooris) using it. However, this raita (curd dip) recipe which I am going to share today is the quickest and the easiest. A big shout to all curd-lovers out there who love all kinds of raitas! So here goes the easy recipe robust with its sweet and sour flavors…

Ingredients

  • 200 gms of peeled and chopped red pumpkin
  • 4 tablespoons or more curd (or as per your liking). I prefer the curd to be slightly on the sour side to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or powdered jaggery (or as per your liking)
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds/rai
  • 1 finely chopped green chilly
  • 2-3 teaspoons of oil
  • A few curry leaves
  • A pinch of asafoetida/hing
  • 1 tablespoon of finely chopped coriander leaves
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

  • Boil the pumpkin in minimal amount of water to cook it soft and mushy. Takes about 3-5 minutes. Mash it well and don’t discard the water. Allow it to cool and then add the curd, sugar, salt and mix it well.
  • Prepare the tadka/seasoning of mustard seeds, chilli, curry leaves in oil. Add the hing to the tadka and while the tadka is sizzling, pour it into the prepared curd mixture. Lastly, add the coriander leaves.
  • Mix it well and adjust the salt and sugar as per your taste.
Tip: Add the tadka, especially with curry leaves, to the raita and leave it in the fridge/outside for a couple of hours. The raita absorbs the flavors of the curry leaves to give it an impeccable taste.

Click here to know more about the benefits of this humble vegetable…

Red pumpkin raita will go very well with Masale Bhaat. Try it out and let me know.

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