Pumpkin and sweet potato curry

Adapted with abandon from Manisha's recipe over at Indian Food Rocks.

It's easy to get a bit intimidated by the long list of Indian spices in some recipes. I used to be scared off making some recipes when I didn't have all the ingredients but now I tend to freewheel it with whatever I have. It usually tastes pretty good, and it was a good lesson (for me) in how recipes are guidelines, not prescriptions.

Preparation is the key to recipes with long lists of ingredients. Chop the pumpkin and potatoes first. Then get the green chilis, ginger, and garlic going in the mini processor. If you need to, gather the seed mixture (panch poran together. Then put the dry spices together in a little bowl. Once you have all this in place, actual cooking is a snap.

Pumpkin and potato curry (Bengali Kumror Chakka Hibernicus)

• 1 small pie pumpkin, chopped into small cubes
• 2 sweet potatoes, chopped into the same size cubes.
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp panch phoran. Or you can use 2 pinches each of mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds. I left out the fenugreek.
• 1 dried red chilli, broken into two pieces
• 2 inch knob of ginger
• 1 can of chickpeas / garbanzo beans (optional: I added these because I think I had too little pumpkin, and I wanted to stretch it a bit)
• 2 medium size cloves of garlic
• 2 green chillies, sliced vertically and seeds discarded
• 1.5 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• some chopped cilantro, for garnish
  

1. Process the green chillies, ginger and garlic in a mini food processor until they're pastelike and unbelievably green and fragrant.
2. Heat oil in a large pot. Add the panch phoran or seed mixture. When it splutters, add red chilli pieces.
3. Then add the pounded mixture of green chillies, ginger and garlic.
4. Add the potatoes and the pumpkin and stir.
5. Mix all the dry spices with a few teaspoons of water to make a paste. Add this to the pan and stir well.
6. Cook for a few minutes till you can smell the fragrance of the masalas start to waft through. About 3-4 minutes.
7. Add 2 and half cups of water and the chickpeas, and simmer until everything tastes done. It only took me about 20 minutes.
8. Add a couple of handfuls of chopped cilantro, if you have it.

We ate this with some brown basmati rice - somewhat to the chagrin of my beloved, who cares not for the brown rice - and it was delicious: spicy and green and yet autumnal at the same time. Definitely a keeper.