Pumpkin Chickpea stew

Its the season of the pumpkin...everywhere you go you see pumpkins. But the best things are those that have real pumpkin in them.

I make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and it is the most popular item on the table for desert. This time when I went grocery shopping there were these small pumpkins...I picked the smallest one which was still close to 2 lbs. The recipe is super great, but the biggest difficulty is peeling the pumpkin. But once you peel it, all the other things are pretty easy.

This is a Moroccan kind of a recipe and I served it with home made naan without yeast. And it is the best combination ever.

Pumpkin Chickpea stew (Chickpeas in coconut and pumpkin gravy)

Pumpkin chickpea stew

Ingredients:

1. 1 small pumpkin , close to 2 lbs, peeled and cubed
2. 1 medium small onion chopped
3. 2 large garlic pods
4. 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced
5. 1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
6. 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander, crushed basil
7. 2 tablespoons raisins
8. 1 tablespoon toasted cashew and almond
9. Handful of baby spinach
10. 1 can garbanzo 
11. 1 can coconut milk
12. 1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
13. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt

In a stock pot heat the oil and add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Add the pumpkin pieces and garlic and ginger and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the broth and cover and cook for 20 minutes.

With an immersion blender, blend the pumpkin to puree. Add all the ingredients and stir to combine and simmer on a low flame for 20 minutes. Serve as is or with your fav grains r with instant naan.

Note: For the soup, I added a bunch of baby spinach to a bowl and added the hot soup to it so that the spinach wilts a little. It is great.

Vegetable lamb pulao

There are a number of recipes for meat pulao and vegetable pulao and I have a few myself

Fenugreek Lamb Pulao
Chicken Pulao
Chinese Okra pulao

All of these are super delicious and the one I made today with meat and lots of vegetables is my new favorite. As usual, the thing which consumes the longest time is preparing the vegetables.

Go ahead enjoy this one pot dinner


Vegetable lamb pulao (Rice cooked with lamb and vegetables and spices)

Lamb and vegetable pulao

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups basmati rice
2. 1 lb lamb cut into bite size pieces
3.  1.2 cup each of yogurt, chopped carrot, peas, chopped potatoes, cauliflower florets, American eggplant peeled and chopped, 1/2 bell pepper of your choice of color, spinach leaves
4. 1 medium small onion sliced
5. 2 tablespoons oil divided
6. 2 cups chicken broth
7. 2 cups water
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin
9. 2 cardamom pods
10. 1 bay leaf
11. 2 cloves
12. 1 inch cinnamon bark
13. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
14. Heaped tablespoon each of mint and coriander leaves

In a pressure cooker add 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions till they become dark brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minuet. Add eggplant and fry for 5 minutes. Beat the yogurt and add it to the cooker. Add all the spices and the lamb and cover and cook for 3-4 whistles.

In the mean time, wash and soak the rice in water. Prepare vegetables.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a wide heavy bottomed pan and add cumin and let it splutter. Add the cardamon, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a minute. Add potatoes and cauliflower and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and fry for 5 more minutes. Add the liquids and bring to a boil. Add the mint and cilantro and rice and the meat from the cooker to the pan. Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or until rice is done. Enjoy with raita

Grilled vegetable and chicken salad

Sunday evenings come too fast and before you know it, its time to wind up the weekend and get ready for a busy week. Its always great to have a dinner which is super fast to make and healthy and yummy to eat.

Grilled vegetables and chicken salad

Grilled Chicken and vegetable salad

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken breast cut into bit size pieces
2. Ingredients for marinating chicken : 1 teaspoon each of salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning + 2 tablespoons olive oil
3. 1 medium zucchini
4. 1 medium squash
5. 1 medium carrot
6. 1/2 red bell pepper ( 1 used 6 sweet peppers halved)
7. Ingredients for the vegetables : 1 teaspoon each of  1 teaspoon each of salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Rosemary, coriander powder + 2 tablespoons olive oil
8. 1 cup orzo pasta if desired...cooked to package directions

Cut the chicken into bit size pieces and add all the ingredients in #2 and set aside for 15-30 minutes.

Cut all the vegetables into bite size pieces and lay on a baking sheet and add all the ingredients in #7.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the vegetables on the lower rack and chicken in the middle rack for 25 minutes. Stir mid way.

Take the vegetables out and bake the chicken for 5 more minutes.

Serve with orzo if desired or just vegetables and chicken if a sprinkle of cheese 

Blueberry breakfast cake in cup

Cake in a cup :D ...Cup Cake

Few months ago I made /blueberry breakfast cake which is awesome and my family loves it. Its a great make ahead breakfast but then I found this recipes of "Blue Berry mug cake on MyFoodStory.com and it is great and making things super fast...I am all for it.

I made teeny tiny modifications to the original recipes and it is great...super yummy and super fast to make.

Blueberry Breakfast/Dessert Cake in Cup

Blueberry cake in a cup

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon butter
2.  2 tablespoons each of sugar, milk
3.  1/2 teaspoon each of rose essence or vanilla, baking powder
4.  1/4 cup all purpose flour
5. 1 teaspoon cream cheese cut into little cubes
6. Handful of blueberries

Melt the butter in the cup and mix it with sugar milk and vanilla or rose essence. Add the flour to it along with a tiny pinch of salt and baking powder and mix well. Top with cream cheese and blue berries and microwave it on high for 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds. Let it cool a bit and enjoy