A cool recipe for the hot summer.

Posted on by writershilpa

Summer has arrived here, in Mumbai. The heat left me stunned when I went for my walk last evening, and today, it’s even hotter …it’s only going to get worse day by day.

Sigh.

As the season changes, it becomes important that we plan meals that help us stay cool from within. For, apart from staying indoors during the day time, wearing cool cottons and staying hydrated, it’s only the food that we eat that will provide us with the cool respite we crave during summer.

So, today, I decided to make myself a cooling pumpkin raita for lunch. It’s what mum prepares often and I love, immensely.

A cool recipe for the hot summer

 

PUMPKIN AND CURD RAITA

Ingredients:

Pumpkin – 200 gms

Curd – 1 cup

Finely chopped green chilli – 1

Salt – to taste

Sugar – a half a teaspoon

Ghee/Oil and cumin seeds – for tempering

Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves – for garnishing

 

Nutritional Value:

Pumpkin – Antioxidants such as beta carotene (found in orange coloured vegetables and fruits) that helps protect the body from cancer, heart diseases and age-related degeneration.

It contains Vitamin C, fibre and potassium that keep the heart healthy.

Curd: Has high protein and calcium content that keeps the bones healthy and the body energised through the day. It helps in better digestion thanks to the live bacteria and is good for the skin, too!

Method:

Wash the pumpkin thoroughly and slice off the skin. You don’t need to throw away the skin, but can use it to make this crispy chutney–my mum’s recipe.

Pumpkin peels

Chop the pumpkin in cubes and pressure cook for 10 minutes.

Once cooked, bring it out and allow it to cool.

After cooling, squeeze out the water of the pumpkin and mash it well.

Beat the thick curd in a bowl and add salt and sugar as per your preference.

Add the mashed pumpkin to the curd and mix well.

Cooling salad

Heat ghee in a tadka pan. If you don’t have/use ghee, use oil. Mum insists on using ghee as it tastes better and adds to the nutritional value of the pumpkin raita.

Crush half a teaspoon of cumin seeds in your palm and add it to the hot oil.

Allow the cumin to sputter and then add finely chopped green chilli. Switch off the gas and add this to the raita.

Garnish with coriander and serve.

The Vitamin A-rich pumpkin is low in calories and rich in fibre.

Curd is loaded with the good, gut-friendly bacteria and helps in digestion.

Combining these two gives you a recipe that’s good for your heart, your skin, your digestion and also helps you stay cool in summer!

The low calorie count of pumpkin and the good bacteria of curd make this pumpkin raita good for your heart, skin and digestion.
Pumpkin-curd raita

My lunch for today…

Do try out this cool pumpkin raita and let me know if you enjoyed it!

Love,

SHILPA…

Pin it for later!

Published by writershilpa

Do you know the secret to living a happy life? Eat. Pray. Love. Or, watch what you eat, wish well for all and fill your heart with love! That's precisely what I try to do through my blogs: 'Metanoia', the wellness website, and 'The S Word', my blog for essays on life. Welcome to my virtual homes!

26 thoughts on “A cool recipe for the hot summer.”

  3. I have never tried pumpkin raita before. We do make cucumber and radish raita. This sounds great as pumpkin is one of my favorite vegetables 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Now, eggplant raita is definitely new to me!
      Will ask mom to make it someday. I am allergic to eggplant, so stay away from it, but mum likes it, so I think she will like its raita, too!
      Thanks, Dipika!

      Like

  6. Wow Shilpa this one is a new one for me. Never knew we could make a pumpkin raita. I love pumpkin Sabji with Puri and pumpkin soup, but this summer cooler sounds so unique and out of the box.
    Will try soon, and also look up the pumpkin chutney.

    Thanks Shilpa.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Natasha, you have to share your pumpkin soup recipe with me someday. I have come to enjoy pumpkin–be it as sabji, or this raita, or the teekha puri mom makes sometimes. It tastes so yummy with the aam ka achaar! God, my tummy is rumbling even as I type out these awesome words! 😛

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Kaddu ka raita sounds a novelty. I have never had it in my life though my mother used to prepare different kinds of raitas but then she had angelic kids who ate everything 😀 I am not that blessed mother or a wife whose kid and husband can eat whatever new I try to make. They will just eat what they regularly eat and that it boondi ka raita. I will suggest it to my mother and see if we can make it during the time I will be staying with her. Bangalore is hottest in April.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Haha! I hear you! My mother too had angelic kids who ate even the kaddu ki sabji because she called it “Chocolate ki sajji”!
      Do try out this raita, and let me know if you liked it!

      Like

  8. Shilpa, I am going to Mother Dairy to buy pumpkin after I post my comment here. Your recipe is so good that I am drooling. I love pumpkin and make kadhi with it all the time. Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aww…that’s lovely! If you like pumpkin, then I am sure you will like this raita.
      By the way, how do you prepare pumpkin kadhi?That’s something I have never heard before! Do share the recipe SUlu!
      And, let me know how you liked the raita!

      Thanks! ❤

      Like

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