“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!” ~ Gaiman.

I received a huge parcel which carried two beautiful cook books ‘Cafe Spice‘ and ‘Silk Road‘ published by Tuttle publications sometime back.

Café spice is a brand of prepared Indian meals and bistro in New York founded by Sushil Malhotra. The book is written by chef Hari Nayak who has hand picked the recipes from the restaurant menu and given his own creative twists and substitutions that make them easier for the home cook to prepare.

The cook book is about celebrating the success of a company that celebrates Indian food and to a tribute to a family whose mission is to “give Indian cooking to the world’ in a real authentic way.

After graduating from the CIA the chef started to develop a new Indian food brand created specifically for the American market. There are many signature dishes from the chef including his own brand of chutneys and spice rubs in this cook book.

Most of the recipes in the book use simple Indian cooking methods and ingredients. It has a detailed explanation of Indian cooking techniques, basis tips and a list of various spices which are predominantly used in Indian cooking.

Some of the recipes which are on my to-do list from the Café Spice cook book are; Spiced pear chutney, Tamarind cooler and fresh Pineapple curry.

Here is one another simple pickle recipe I picked from the cook book, a simple and delicious Pumpkin pickle which can be made in a jiffy.

Pumpkin Pickle or Kaddu Ka Achaar

I have never tried pickling a pumpkin before and wanted to make the same. I liked the tartness of dry mango powder or amchoor perfectly balancing the sweetness of pumpkin pieces.

The few changes I made in the recipe are; I reduced the amount of sugar as I like my pickle very hot and spicy and added nigella seeds (kalonji dana) and aniseed (saunf) without which my pickles won’t come to life. I also under-cook the pumpkin to retain the bites as I don’t like mushy pumpkin.

Ingredients;

(serves 4)

• 4 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 4 dried red chillies
• 700 gms. Pumpkin
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. Asian red chilly powder
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 5 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. dried mango powder

Method;

Heat the oil in a pan, add fenugreek seeds (methi dana) and dried red chillies and let them pop.

Peel and dice the pumpkin into small cubes.

Add the pumpkin pieces and stir over a high heat for 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the salt, chilly powder and turmeric powder.

Reduce the heat and cook until the pumpkin is soft and begins to break down.

Stir in the sugar and add dry mango powder.

Store the pickle in glass jar and refrigerate.

Notes;

1. This pickle stays good for upto 15-20 days when refrigerated.
2. Add extra oil and 1 tbsp of vinegar to increase the shelf life of the pickle.
3. Use ripe and dark yellow pumpkin for better colour.

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