Raita is an integral part of a typical Indian meal. There are lots of varieties and ways in which it is prepared. The most common ingredients of a raita are tomato, onion and cucumber teamed up with curds or tempering and lemon sans the curds.

From last couple of days we have been preparing same type of raitas and I got fed up with it today morning. I have no clue why did we just keep preparing the same ones again and again again. I am still wondering why I did not think of pumpkin raita. Anyway better late than never!!!

I feel bad for pumpkin as it is always considered to be one which has no taste at all and many of us are not overly fond of it. Although I fail to understand why. With the right ingredients and a good recipe, pumpkin dish can taste superb. I can guarantee you that even children will love it. It also is very nutritious so it gets thumbs up from the health conscious people too.

So here is the recipe, fast, simple and easy as Donna Hay would say it!

Ingredients:

Pumpkin – 125 gms
Curds (whisked) – 1 cup
Chilli (small) – 1
Coriander (chopped) – 1 teaspoon
Salt – to taste

For tempering:

Clarified Butter/ Ghee – 1 teaspoon
Cumin Seeds – ½ teaspoon

Procedure:

• Peel the skin of the pumpkin and cut it in to cubes.
• Cook it in a pressure cooker along with a small chilli. 3 -4 whistles should be good.
• Once the pumpkin is cooked, mash it using a spoon and also mash the chilli.
• Add salt, chopped coriander and whisked curds to it.
• To make the tempering, heat ghee in a small pan or you get small kadhais for tempering. Add cumin seeds. Once they splutter, pour it over the pumpkin mixture. Serve it with hot rotis (Indian bread).

Tips:

• You may also cook the pumpkin using a microwave. You should be able to mash it with ease. That should be the consistency. It shouldn’t be too mushy.
• Eliminate the chilli if preparing for children.