Pusinikkai Kurma, Winter Melon ( White Pumpkin ) Kurma

          Whenever I buy winter melon, the first dish that I would do with it is Moru Kuzhambu ( curd based gravy ) or a kootu or raitha, and the Pusinikkai Dosa. Couple of weeks back, I had to make a side dish to go with rotis and I had to do it with Winter Melon, so then I thought I could make a kurma with it. It's an easy recipe, it  turned out good and went very well with the rotis..

Need To Have

• Diced Pusinikkai/ Winter Melon - 3 cups
• Onion - 2 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
• Curry Leaves - 10 - 15
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 2 tablespoons to garnish

To Grind

• Cinnamon - 1" piece
• Cloves - 2
• Coriander Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Dalia/ Roasted Gram Dal/ Pottu Kadalai - 1 tablespoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Garlic - 4 - 5 cloves
• Green Chillies - 2

Recipe adapted from here

Method

          Peel, dice the pumpkin and keep. Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the curry leaves, followed by the onions and saute till it turns translucent. Add the pumpkin pieces and saute for 3 minutes, then add the tomato pieces and saute for another 3 to 4 minutes.

          In the meantime, while you are sauteing the vegetables, grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' into a fine paste and keep.

           After sauteing the tomatoes, add the ground paste, about 1 and 1/2 cup of water, salt, mix, cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, till the pumpkin is cooked. Once the kurma/ curry has reached the desired thickness, add the coriander leaves and remove.

Note
If the final gravy is too thick then add some water, if it's watery, then cook it uncovered on high heat, till it becomes thick.