Monday, January 29, 2007

Pumpkin gives all – leaf, flower, fruit, seed

In some regions of the world, every part of certain animals killed for food is eaten. In parts of rural Eastern Europe, for instance, nothing from a pig is wasted. Apart from the meat, almost all organs are eaten.

Offal is an acquired taste, but how about vegetables that yield every part of them in every stage of their lifecycle? Hats off to them, for they surrender themselves totally to human consumption.

One such example is the humble pumpkin. In Bengal, every part (except the root) of the pumpkin plant and its fruit, including seeds, is eaten. (I learned only recently from a recipe that pumpkin seeds are eaten in America, too). In Bengal, the leaves are eaten as “shak,” which is a generic term for edible leaves cooked simply with few spices.

I have never been a big lover of pumpkin, except as a Halloween symbol. But one part of pumpkin that I really like is the flower. In fact, I like pumpkin flowers more than the fruit. The way Bengalis eat pumpkin flowers is to make fritters of them.

They make a batter of besan, or chickpea flour, seasoned with chilli powder and salt. For texture, a little bit of khaskhas, or poppy seeds, is added. Some cooks add some rice powder for extra crispness, but this is optional.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

10 fresh pumpkin flowers (only petals)
2/3 cup besan
½ teaspoon chilli powder (or paprika, if you prefer mild)
⅓ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon poppy seeds (available in Indian grocery stores)
⅓ cup water
Oil for deep-frying

Method

  1. Remove the calyx and the centers of flowers, keeping only the petals.
  2. Make a batter of all the ingredients, except the flowers.
  3. Heat oil.
  4. Dip each flower into batter, shaking off excess, and deep-fry in batches.
  5. Serve hot, with ketchup or mustard.

Serves 2-3

Try this, and let me (and others) know how it turned out. Until then, bon appétit.

12 comments:

Susan in Italy said...

Thanks for the recipe, it sounds delicious. We won't get pumpkin flowers for another few months but I'll keep in mind the besan flour idea.

Anonymous said...

sounds yummy! I have had zucchini flowers similar to this before... can't wait to try this when the pumpkins are blooming here.

Anonymous said...

When pumpkin season starts we would like to publish your delicious recipe on our
Daily Recipe Blog?
with your permission.

We have every day a new recipe for: General recipes, Breakfast, Low Carb, Low Fat, Desert...
It would be so great to add yours!

http://daily-cook-book.blogspot.com

Angshuman Das said...

Please feel free to publish my recipe. If you give me credit, all the better.

Angshuman

Michele said...

It was interesting to discover that flowers from all types of pumpkin-like plants can be fried and eaten (courgettes, pumpkins, marrows, all belong to the same family). In the south of Italy we traditionally fry courgettes flowers (in a flour and egg batter). Following your idea I've done the same with the pumpkin flowers ... and I really cannot see any difference between the two. I will try with a chickpeas flour batter (and no eggs). It will probably be lighter and more tasty. Thanks for the recipe.

Dibyanshi said...

looks good for me . Dada, can i add this in my site ? www.eodissa.com ?

please reply here

Anonymous said...

the last 3 inches of growing tips/shoots are great stir fried in butter salt and pepper we call them curlies

DINESH RATH said...

Amaresh , thats a odiya recipe . I wonder hw u did not taste it being an odia

Asha said...

Amazing..thanks for sharing!!

Asha
WhatAnIndianRecipe

Aarti said...

sounds yummy! I have had zucchini flowers similar to this before...

Anonymous said...

Delicious :)
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.

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