Recipe for Kaddu ki Sabzi – Punjabi style sweet-sour pumpkin curry that goes best with pooris (fried Indian flatbread) | Kaddu ki Subzi Punjabi style | Punjabi Pumpkin Curry | Khatti Meethi Kaddu ki Sabzi
There are some side dishes that make the calories of a poori worthwhile. Aloo subzi and Chole have always been my favourite accompaniments to this deep fried bread and this Kaddu ki sabzi Punjabi style, is a recent discovery, thanks to my friends.
Tangy, spicy and sweet at the same time, this Punjabi pumpkin curry is a great way to make use of red pumpkin which is in season now. In Bangalore, we find the Disco pumpkin which are smaller in size, the Ironbark or the Japanese, all of which have a deep orange flesh. For this preparation, the former varieties are preferred over the yellow flesh pumpkin used for Olan like Koottu.
Get the recipe for a super healthy Pumpkin & Chana Dal curry here
This is a Punjabi recipe shared by my friend, Kishi Arora of Foodoholics and this is the way her mom (@mamaktreats on Twitter) makes it. I think I have more or less followed the recipe she dictated to me on phone. We prepared this with Aaloo Bhaaja, Chole, Halwa and Poori for a perfect Navratri dinner.
Love Pumpkin? Get 14 no-fail, delicious pumpkin recipes from my blog
Poori, or the Indian whole wheat based deep fried bread has a few standard accompaniments that make a delicious Indian meal.
While this Kaddu Ki Subzi is one of them, there’s Aamras, that is a must have with poori when mangoes are in season. Aamras is just sweet-juicy variety of mangoes, peeled and pureed. In some Indian cuisines, spices like cardamom, saffron, black pepper powder or roasted cumin powder are used to garnish the aamras. Melted ghee is also another favoured garnish for aamras.
The other rustic curry that is just made for fluffed up hot poori is Kala Chana or the Punjabi brown chick peas curry. This recipe was blogged here in 2006, with rave reviews from readers. Even if your diet does not permit you to have deep fried puris, try out the Kala Chana, Kaddu ki sabzi and serve with plain phulka rotis for a rustic Punjabi vegetarian meal.
Equipment needed to make Kaddu Ki Sabzi:
Kadai to prepare the sabzi
Kaddu ki Sabzi | Punjabi Pumpkin Curry
Ingredients
- 400 grams orange or yellow pumpkin peeled and cut in cubes
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- pinch asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds methi
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsps amchoor powder raw mango powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 - 2 tsps coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp jaggery crushed (or brown sugar)
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp salt or more to taste
- coriander Finely chopped for garnish
Instructions
- To prepare Kaddu ki sabzi, in a heavy bottomed wide wok / kadai, heat the oil. Add the asafoetida, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds. Once the mustard splutters, add the pumpkin cubes and toss well to coat with oil and whole spices.
- On medium flame, cook the pumpkin for 5 minutes or so, then add all remaining powdered spices, including crushed jaggery, add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook on low flame. This will take at least 15-20 minutes to cook. Keep checking every 5 minutes, if any additional water is required, adding 1/4 cup at a time, if necessary.
- When cooked, you should be able to crush the pumpkin with the thumb with light pressure but the shape should be retained, and the whole dish should not turn into mashed pumpkin.
- Adjust the red chilli powder, jaggery and amchoor to suit your taste such that it is a good balance of spicy, sweet and sour. If the pumpkin is inherently quite sweet, you don't have to add much jaggery.
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander. Serve with hot pooris.
Notes
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wow yummy n delicious sabzi…
OMG so yummy i want to eat it.buy kesar
A nice variation on the humble pumpkin Nandita :). I’m used to mostly South Indian style dishes (like a yummy koottu from my mom) so would love to try this sometime soon.Thanks for sharing! And the pooris look amazing too.
Hello Aparna,I make the South Indian kootu too, but not a fan of kootu with rotis, so this is quite a winner when you want a side with chapatis.
Thanks, Premalatha!
This is the first time I made pumpkin and I have to say it was “Ah-maz-ing”. Perfect flavour. I was in a bit of a rush so I microwaved the wet pumpkin pieces for around 3 to 4 minutes and then cooked them…came out a bit mushy in the end but it was a hit at home.
Just made this kaddu ki sabzi Punjabi style as a side dish for dinner tonight. It came out great and turned out to be a big hit with the family. Being bengalis we ate it with rice. Delicious !
Thank you very much for trying 🙂 and glad you liked it
Thank you so much! This was absolutely incredible and thankfully I have all of the spices from my travels around London. My other half actually thought there was meat in it and couldn’t believe it was a pumpkin and a load of spices. This could convert a carnivore. It is now one of my all time favourite recipes. Thank you for sharing it! Jonny nr London
Thank you so much!
I chanced upon your blog and this recipe, as I had a fresh pumpkin sitting in my kitchen. Happened to try kaddu ki sabzi. Bade mazedaar nikali 🙂 This dish turned out to be the show stealer of tonight’s dinner. Simple and flavoursome it was. Will definitely visit few other recipes of yours. Cheers to your culinary escapades nandita… !
thank you Gauri!
Nice recipe has my taste buds tingling, Thanks for sharing.
thanks, Aria!
Hi! I loved it. Thanks a lot. I loved it and you made my day.