Methi wala kaddu and tari wali barbati

I am pleased with the title of this post, both 'kaddu' and 'barbati' are words that I don't get to hear very often nowadays :) Just another wave of nostalgia I guess! :)

I have been eyeing pretty looking Banana Squash at the grocery store for quite a while now but never tried cooking it. The other day I suddenly remembered the 'methi wala kaddu' (Indian Pumpkin seasoned with fenugreek seeds. Where Indian pumpkin is something close to butternut squash) that my mom used to make. And it felt like I had found some use for the banana squash :) Here's her recipe -

Ingredients: I am not giving exact measurements as this preparation doesn't need any!
1. Banana squash peeled and cubed. It was quite easy to peel using a regular peeler.
2. A little oil to cook.
3. Chopped green chillies, onions and garlic
4. Lemon juice
5. 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds. (In other words, use less fenugreek and mustard, and more cumin :))
6. Red chilli powder, turmeric and salt to taste
7. Fresh cilantro -chopped. I didn't have it, so I used spring onions.

Method:
1. Heat oil, add all the seeds and let them splutter.
2. Add garlic, followed by green chillies and onions. Saute a little bit. Don't let them brown.
3. Add chilli powder and turmeric, saute.
4. Mix banana squash cubes, sprinkle salt to taste and mix well.
5. Add a tbsp of water, mix, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
6. When the squash is cooked, turn off the heat and stir in cilantro (I used spring onions) and lemon juice to taste.
7. Cover and let the flavors sink in.
8. Serve with fulkas/paratha and a wedge of lime.

Actually the spring onions went quite well with the other flavors. I might add it the next time, even if I have fresh cilantro. Mind you, the dish has a slightly bitter taste because of the fenugreek seeds, but I think that is what makes this preparation special! :)

I served it as a side to tari wale barbati/lobia/rongi/rawan/chowli/black-eyed peas :)



This is how I made the barbati.
Ingredients (serves 2)
1. 1/2 cup black-eyed peas
2. 1/2 onion grated/chopped fine
3. 2 tomatoes pureed
4. 2 tsp ginger/garlic/green chilli paste
5. Masala - 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp coriander powder
6. Oil about 1/2 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak black-eyed peas for about 2 hours in cold water. Pressure cook for 3 whistles with a little salt and enough water to immerse the beans. I prefer not to cook the beans too much initially as they should retain their shape.

2. Heat oil, add onions, ginger-garlic-chilli paste and tomatoes. (I put them all in the chopper together and chopped fine. My mom grinds them all - I am not fortunate enough to have an Indian blender like she has :) Turns out to be pretty quick and doesn't seem to matter though!)

3. After about 5-7 minutes of sauteeing as oil begins to separate, add all the masalas and a little salt. At this step I also added some chopped green bell-peppers, a lovely tip from dear Musical of Musical's Kitchen. Saute for a minute.

4. Add cooked black-eyed peas with the water it was pressure cooked in. Simmer for about 10 more minutes till you get desired consistency of the gravy.

5. Add fresh coriander.

Alternatively, you can also avoid pre-cooking the black-eyed peas. Just prepare the masala as in step 2 and 3, in step 4 add soaked black-eyed peas and then pressure cook for 4 whistles. I didn't do it this way this time around as I didn't want my bell peppers to over cook :)

For the extra dash of flavor, you can sprinkle some garam masala or chana masala at the end.

This meal was very close to a typical sunday meal at my parent's home. The only thing missing was chaach or namkeen lassi as punjus call it :) We would *always* have salad at home, so I made sure I at least had some chopped cucumber with this meal :)