I have shared similar recipe with butternut squash with sesame before but today’s recipe is the original one – Pumpkin with sesame seeds. I have found this recipe from the magical writer Smriti Bhodro in Facebook and with her amazing writing skills, I was lost to her memory lanes! I am grateful to this writer who are sharing not only the classic Bangladeshi vegan recipes but also telling a story of her childhood, the classic household story of Bangladeshi society!

This is very simple but amazingly delicious and we also need only a few ingredients to make this! We need any kinds of pumkin, black cumin seed, sesame seed, pinch of turmeric, dry chili, green chili (if you dare to make it spicy!) and better with mustard oil. If you don’t have mustard oil, you can use any vegetable oil.

First of all, we need to peel and cut the pumpkin in cubes or square shape. Well, to me one of the annoying thing to do in the kitchen is to peel off the pumpkin skin! Its hard, takes a lot of time and the various shapes of pumpkin/gourd makes it ridiculously difficult! However, I have managed to peel the pumkin and cut them in 1 inches square. Its important to cut them in same size, as stated in the original recipe to get the best taste. Cutting them in same shape and size also helps in even cooking. I even saved the skins for my next Food Scrap recipes!

Now in a deep pan, add Bangladeshi Mustard oil (or substitute any vegetable oil) and heat under medium temperature. When oil is warm, add two to three dried chili and half teaspoon of Nigella or black cumin seeds. Let the chili and nigella seeds bubble a bit and release nice fragrance, for few seconds.

Then add cubed pumpkins to the pan! Stir and mix them well with oil and seeds. We will have to let the pumpkin cook for a one to two minutes.

Now add salt and turmeric powder to pumpkins. You can also sprinkle some sugar to caramelize and enhance the flavor, but I don’t normally add sugar. Stir and mix everything well again and let the pumpkin roast a little and change colors.

Add two to three green chili for flavor. Skip chili if you don’t like it. I also added around 50 ml of water, covered the pot and cooked under low heat. I do not like to stir butternuts too much, as they breaks very easily.

After 10 minutes of simmering under low heat, the pumpkins starts to look very soft. Turn them with spatula carefully and check if all of them are cooked evenly. Check for salt too.

After few more minutes, all the water are reduced and pumpkins started to look creamy. Now it is time to add the vital ingredient, the white sesame seed!

When pumpkins are completely soft and almost ready to serve, sprinkle a hip spoonful of white sesame seed. Lightly turn and mix everything.

My Sesame Pumpkin is ready to serve! Sprinkle more sesame seed in serving bowl and enjoy this simple classic recipe with rice or hand made bread (ruti)!

Recipe: 6 portions, Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients: 1 Pumpkin (about 500g) 1 tablespoon of White Sesame Seed 1 teaspoon of Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon of Nigella seed or Black cumin 2-3 Dried Chili 2-3 Green Chili 1 tablespoon Salt 10 ml of Bangladeshi Mustard Oil (or any vegetable oil)

1. Wash and peel the skin of pumpkin. Cut them in 1inch square size. 2. In a pot, add oil and heat under medium temperature. Add dried chili and nigella seeds. Sizzle for few seconds and add cubed pumpkins. 3. Stir and mix everything well and let the pumpkin roast a bit. Then add salt and turmeric powder and stir to mix again. Cook in open flame for 5-6 minutes. 4. After 5-6 minutes, add two fresh chili and 50 ml of water. Cover the pot with lid. Turn the heat to low temperature and let the pumpkin cook thoroughly. 5. After 10 to 12 minutes, when pumpkin look soft, check if they are cooked. Check for salt too and add more if you need. 6. Before serving in a dish, add white sesame seed to pumpkin and lightly mix them. Serve with rice,ruti or porota.