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Sunday, April 20, 2014

Pumpkin Oambal - Nagaland

Come and travel with me to the far North Eastern India to the state of Nagaland. Nagaland is the smallest state in India and is the 16th state established. Agriculture is very rich and the important economic activity here. Principal crops include rice, corn, millet, pulses, oilseeds, potatoes and sugarcane. Nagaland is called the”Falcon capital of the World”. From Wiki – “The Nagas were originally referred to as Naka in Burmese language, which means 'people with pierced noses. Christianity is the predominant religion in this state. Nagaland is also the only “Baptist state in the World””. Another unique information to Nagaland is that there are about 20 languages that are used here. The cuisine of Nagaland, fondly called the Naga cuisine is predominant in meats and fish and they are smoked, fermented or dried. Now coming to today’s recipe, it is a delicious finger licking chutney.. The original recipe had bay leaf and lemon. I omitted them due to our taste and preference. I got this recipe from here and did make a few changes..
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Ingredients
Pumpkin - 300 grams
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tea spoon
Jaggery - 1/4 cup
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Raisins - 1 tea spoons
Water - 1/4 cup + 1/2 cup
Tamarind - 1 lemon size
Red Chili - 2
Mustard Oil - 1 table spoon
Salt - 1/3 tea spoon
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds - 1/8 tea spoon
Asafetida - A pinch
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Method
Boil the pumpkin in 1/4 cup water and mash it well. Set aside
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water. Extract juice and set aside
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds
When they crackle, add red chili and raisins
Immediately add the tamarind water
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Add turmeric, red chili powder, salt and asafetida
Mix this continuously to avoid it getting burned
Cook for 3 minutes until the raw flavor of the tamarind is gone
Add the mashed pumpkin and stir again continuously for a minute
Add the jaggery and mix for a minute
Remove from heat and the oambal is ready to serve
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17 comments:

  1. Recipe sounds interesting dear. Adding raisins to the spicy item is new to me..Thanks for sharing...

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  2. Oambal is a very new name ..looks delicious soumya

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  3. Omg, irresistible oambal, seriously i would like to get that bowl.

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  4. Sounds similar to the Ambal I made for Jammu. Chutney looks lovely with the thick gravy.

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  5. Good one. A popular one for today, I guess.

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  6. U'd be surprised that the bay leaf infact gave a lot of flavor to the oambal...i was in two minds but went with it..it kind of reduced the tanginess and made it much more eartheir in taste, yours looks fabulous without it as well..so no major worries

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  7. pumpkin oambal looks super tasty

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  8. Oh your oambal looks so different!..very nice one..

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  9. Even I made this. Your version looks absolutely delicious...

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  10. pumpkin oambal looks good. I have noticed that most of the recipes in NE states, the only spice called was bay leaf. So it might give a nice flavor to the food. We normally add so many spices along with bay leaf and the flavor of the bay leaf might be lost in our food.

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  11. Finger licking and tangy pumpkin oambal,sounds inviting...

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  12. Your recipe look nice Sowmya. I was a little skeptical about this dish until I saw a few variations for this dish in this BM.Must try sometime..

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  13. what a flavorful pumpkin, which is one of my fave veggeis. I am sure this tasted so good

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  14. wow totally loving your version of Oambal looks fantastic dear :) just drooling here !!

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  15. Wow love the ombal its delicious

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  16. Same pinch. .I made the same. .well did we have much choice. .the Oombal looks delicious.

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