Kumbalakai Palya/ Sauteed Butternut Squash

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 vegetables that I grew up eating in India is often not available. So this set set me on a quest to put as many local vegetables to use as possible. The Indian pumpkin is something i miss here. I tried the butternut squash. Initially it was hard getting through to the flesh; the skin as it happens is pretty tough. Once I got though the chopping part, it was a breeze. Here is the recipe.

We will need,

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

Method:

• Peeling 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. Cover and cook till the squash is tender. Keep checking every 5 minutes. It should be done in about 12 minutes. 
• Finish with corriander.