Kumbalakai Palya

It is a tradition in my family to have a vegetable in the form of Palya for every meal. Not only is it healthy but also very very tasty. The regularity of the palya in every meal makes every vegetable indispensable. So we end up making the palya out of every available vegetable. Here in the united states, many a vegetables that are common in India are often not available. So this set set me on a quest to put as many vegetables as possible on the table. The Indian pumpkin is something i miss here. So i tried the butternut squash. It turned out to be pretty good. Here is the recipe. Well one more thought. Pumpkin back home is so much associated with obsequious ceremonies that it is generally avoided by the traditionalists. I circumvent the rule by using butternut squash instead. It turned out as tasty and i ended up respecting the rules!!!!

Ingredients

Butternut Squash 1 small
Kadale Bele (Channa Dal) 1 teaspoon
Uddina Bele (Urad Dal) 1 teaspoon
Jeera 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Hing 1 pinch
Curry leaves 4-5
Green Chillies 2-4
Oil 2 tablespoon
Corriander/Cilantro
Coconut (optional)
Salt

Pealing butternut squash is a problem. Take a sharp Knife and cut both the ends of the squash. Stand it on one of the ends vertically. Run the knife on the skin shaving all of it wasting as little of the flesh as possible. Chop the squash into bite size pieces. Heat oil in a pan. Drop the mustard, hing, jeera and both the dals. Drop the slit green chillies and the chopped butternut squash. season it with salt (and coconut if using. I generally avoid coconut because of high cholesterol problem in my fa cover. The squash cooks very fast. Keep checking every 5 minutes. It should be done in about 12 minutes. Finish with corriander.