MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Laal Bhoplyachi Bhaji( Laal Kaddu/Red Pumpkin Subji)

Laal Bhoplyachi Bhaji( Laal Kaddu/Red Pumpkin Subji)

Laal Bhopala(Red Pumpkin/Laal Kaddu) is a highly nutritious vegetable and should form part of everyone’s diet for vitamins and minerals. I love the fresh aroma of this vegetable. You can cook this vegetable in many ways, like soups, salads, along with daals and in Sambar, and desserts like cakes, kheer(porridge) and halwa. I love Bhoplyachi Ghari (fried snack/goodie made with pumpkin, flour and jaggery) a lot and my grandmother would make a special effort to make it right from planting the pumpkin.

The pumpkin vegetable is prepared differently in different parts of India, some places it is cooked with tamarind-jaggery, some places with curds-coconut and there are many more such interesting recipes with distinct tastes from all over.

Ingredients

Red Pumpkin – 250 gms

Oil – 2 teaspoons

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Dried Red Chillies – 2-3 nos

Asafoetida – A pinch

Salt – As per taste

Curry leaves – 10-12 nos

Curds – 100 gms

Fresh grated coconut – 3 teaspoons

Roasted groundnut Powder – 3 teaspoons

Water – ½ cup

Method

Peel the pumpkin and chop into cubes. Heat oil in a pan, add asafetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add pumpkin and stir for a minute. Add turmeric powder and salt and stir well for about 2 minutes. Add water and cook for 4-5 minutes by covering with a lid. Remove lid and add roasted groundnut powder and fresh grated coconut and mix well. After 2 minutes, add betaen curds and cook for a minute or two. Lall Bhoplyachi Bhaji is ready to be served and tastes good with roti/chappati or rice.