Dal and White Pumpkin Curry

White Pumpkin 1 (cut into chunks)
Chana dal – 1 cup (washed and soaked)
Dry red chillies -5
Corriander seeds – 2 tablespoons
Cummin seeds -1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds -1/2 teaspoon
3-4 garlic flakes
1 small onion
pinch of turmeric
1/2 fresh coconut
For tempering : 2-3 tbsps ghee, 1/2 onion sliced, few curry leaves.

Dry roast on a tawa, separately, whole red chillies, corriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, garlic (sliced), onion (sliced), grated coconut. Add a pinch of turmeric and grind extra fine and keep aside.

Wash the channa dal and soak for sometime. Pressure cook or boil and keep aside. Make a thick curry with the ground masala, add the pumkin and cook till the masala boils and the pumpkin is nearly cooked (say roughly 5-8 minutes). Add the channa dal and simmer for a few minutes. In a separate pan add ghee and heat up and add the sliced onion. When it turns golden, add the curry leaves. Pour on the boiling curry and simmer for a minute or two.

Serve with white rice or roti and a vegetable side-dish, papad, pickle.

Serves 6-8 people.

Pomfret Fish Curry

This recipe comes to you from our fish specialist, Joyce Alvares. Since she was having issues with her camera, I made it and photographed it for her. The verdict of all who tasted it was a big thumbs up. Ingredients : For masala : 5 green chilies, 2 tablespoons coriander (whole), ½ teaspoon mustard steeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 6 cloves of garlic, 1” ginger, 1 onion, little tamarind, bunch of coriander leaves, few mint leaves, 1 big cup coconut (I used desiccated coconut). F or slicing and adding to the curry-1/2 onion, 1 tomato, 1 green chili, few slices of ginger. Clean, wash and apply salt and turmeric to the fish. Rinse in water and keep aside. Grind to a very fine paste all the ingredients for the masala. I powder the dry ingredients separately in the spice grinder and add to the other ingredients in the blender/grinder. Also ground the desiccated coconut in the spice grinder to get a very fine paste. Make the paste and keep aside. In a vessel put some oil and add the onion, when it is slightly brown add the ginger, tomato and green chili and sauté for a few seconds. Add the ground masala and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add water and salt and let the curry boil till comes to a rolling boil. Add the fish and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Do not stir with spoon after the fish is added or the fish will break but gently shake the vessel holding it with two kitchen serviettes so that it is well mixed. Garnish with a few springs of coriander leaves and serve with rice and a side-vegetable.