Pumpkin Pachadi/Mathan Pachadi

Time is just flying by. My younger daughter is growing up so fast. She’s already started talking. Her childish jabbering is so cute. I am always in awe at how fast she grasps each word and repeats it. I just love the way she calls out to her elder sister Aiye! Akka! Chamtha Akka! (Samyukta Akka), that’s 2 times and if she doesn’t listen, then it changes to Aiye Chamta, Chamta!!

She is also becoming naughtier by the day.  I sometimes wish that I had an extra pair of eyes, hands and legs to take care of my lil one. One moment she is in the dining room, eating something and I think she’s busy eating, but I’m proven totally wrong, cos the moment I get up to run a small errand, she’s has run off too.  I cut open the milk packet and empty it into the vessel. Then in a flash I see the vessel is gone. My daughter is running with the vessel, spilling milk all over. Ha ha! Even by mistake if I leave the bathroom door open, within 2 minutes I can see her coming out wet all through. These are just a few of her antics. This post sure is not enough to list down what all she does.

It is so much fun to see her grow, but definitely a full time job for one adult. I’m thoroughly enjoying this stint of motherhood.

Now let’s get to today’s recipe, Mathan pachadi. This saucy preparation is generally prepared as an accompaniment to Molagootal or Molagushiam. It is a typical Palakkad Iyer recipe and is one of my favorites. It is a simple dish where in pumpkins are cooked in tamarind and simmered in coconut - chili paste.  Other vegetables like brinjal, lady’s finger and Malabar Vellarikai can be used instead of pumpkin. Do try this out, even if you don’t prepare molagootal or molagushyam, it tastes very good with simple curd rice too.

What you’ll need

1.       Pumpkin – 250 gms

2.       Tamarind – gooseberry sized ball

3.       Turmeric Powder – a pinch

4.       Jaggery – 1 tsp

5.       Salt to taste

To Grind

1.       Scraped Coconut – ½ cup

2.       Green Chillies – 1 or 2

3.       Mustard Seeds – 1/8^th of tsp

For Seasoning

1.       Oil – a tsp

2.       Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

3.       Methi /Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp

4.       Dried Red Chillies – 1 broken

5.       Curry Leaves – few

Method

1.       Soak tamarind in hot water. Squeeze, extract tamarind pulp. Add about a cup of water.

2.       Peel and cut the pumpkin into square slices of ½ inch thickness.

3.       Add the pumpkin pieces, turmeric powder and salt to the tamarind extract. See to it that the pumpkin pieces are immersed in the tamarind else add little more water.

4.       Let this boil, cover and cook till the pumpkin pieces are cooked.

5.       In the meanwhile, grind coconut, green chillies and mustard seeds into a smooth paste adding little water.

6.       After the pumpkin pieces are cooked, add the ground paste, jaggery and simmer. Check for salt.

7.       Now, heat a small frying pan with oil, splutter mustard seeds and methi seeds. Then add the dried red chillies. Pour this over the pachadi and garnish with curry leaves.

Tasty mathan pachadi is ready to be served with rice and molagootal or molagutiam. Also tastes good with curd rice.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Khushi and to healing food – Coconut by Sukanya.