A curry of Pumpkin Tips

Not many cooking exploits to record, the harvest is beginning and simply cooked veggies from the garden (think new potatoes and broad beans in no particular order) are making most of my meals.

This though, is a slightly more complex preparation utilising some pumpkin prunings, the luscious tender tips of the vines. It's a less well known way of using cucurbits, in the UK we tend to wait for the fruit but if you're hungry the greens make good eating. I had to cut the tips anyway, as the plants need training to stop them overwhelming everything around them.

Serves two.

Prepare some pumpkin tips. I had seven or eight. Use just the top 15cm or so with one or two leaves chopped into 3cm pieces and rinsed well.

Chop a boiled potato or two into small dice. I used some leftovers.

Take:

3 cloves
1.5 dry red chillies
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons sesame seed

Toast these spices in a dry pan for a few moments until fragrant, then cool slightly and grind into a fine powder in a spice grinder or your pestle and mortar. Adjust the chilli heat to suit your self.

Add to the ground spices:

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (you can use some whole cinnamon and grind it with the other spices above if you like)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Grate:

about 3cm fresh ginger root
3 or 4 cloves of garlic

Chop finely:

1 medium onion

Gently fry the onion in some vegetable oil until starting to colour, then add the garlic, ginger and spices and mix together.

Add:

a small piece of tamarind paste soaked in a little warm water (or use 1 tsp. vinegar)

Add the potato and pumpkins tips along with some water, about 300ml should do it but you need to adjust this to your taste. The greens exude some liquid during cooking.

Stir well and cover the pan to cook gently while the greens wilt. Should take about 10-15 minutes. Add some chopped coriander leaves and mix in.

Sizzle a couple of teaspoons of mustard seed in some oil and pour over the curry at the end of cooking.

Serve with chapathis.