Gummadikaya Pulusu is the next one featured in the Vegetarian Lunch Thali. This Pulusu is a tangy, slightly sweetish gravy that pairs well with steamed rice.
We mostly make pumpkin as gojju or thick gravy. And there are occasions when we want to make something extra too. And there are occasions when the dishes we want to make will not be liked by all, yet we have to make them. Like Hubby Dear doesn’t the Gummadikaya Gojju as it is sweetish in taste. This is a dish that I ate growing up and love it a lot. A very simple no onion, a no-frills dish that gets done very quickly.
As a result, we make dishes like this, I end up cooking a different meal for Hubby Dear, something for the kids. Naturally, we end up with different dishes. I thought I might as well make a thali out of it. The dishes you see on the plate have dishes made for different family members and it sort of complimented each other.
We like vegetables that are just roasted, however, Hubby Dear likes it spicy with some extra masala. So this bindi you see here is a masala one that has onions and tomatoes and cooked as a dry saute. It makes a wonderful combination with plain dal.
We had masala Vada prepared for lunch and it was a delicious meal on the whole. The Thali has Dal with Bindi Curry, Masala Vada. This thali certainly makes you feel happy as you have different flavours to taste!
This Pumpkin Pulusu is my Day 4 of Vegetarian Thali, while it’s another Biryani in C4AS
Thalis & Platters
Week 1 – Platters for Kids
Pyjama Party for Day 1
Sandwich Platter for Day 2
Fusion Platter for Day 3
Pizza Party for Day 4
Week 2 – Thalis featuring Regional Cuisines – Veg Thalis
Dussehra Festival Thali for Day 1
Summer Special South Indian Vegetarian Menu for Day 2
Vegetarian Thali Menu List for Day 3
PIN This for Later!
Ingredients used to make this Pulusu
Red Pumpkin is the main ingredient to make this Pulusu. Pulusu means thin gravy, mostly made till tangy using Tamarind.
First of all, boil the pumpkin to firm pieces. Next, add this to the boiling tamarind water mixed with the ground masala.
The ground masala can be simple roasted chana dal, coriander seeds with coconut, or it can have more ingredients like peppercorn, urad dal added to it.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve this with hot steamed rice with a serving of ghee. You can avoid ghee to make this a completely vegan meal.
Vegetarian Thali Menu 4
Gummadikaya Pulusu
Gummadikaya Gojju
Bendakaya Masala Vepudu
Pepper Rasam
Plain Dal / Sapidi Pappu
Steamed Rice
Masala Vada
Curds
Gummadikaya Pulusu ~ Vegetarian Lunch Thali
Ingredients
For the Pulusu
- 1 cup Red Pumpkin / Gummadikaya
- 2 inch Tamarind almost a lemon size
- 1 tsp Jaggery
- Salt to taste
For ground masala
- 1 tsp Cooking Oil
- 1/4 tsp Coriander Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Chana Dal
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp Peppercorn
- 4 to 5 Dry Red Chilies
- 1/4 cup Coconut grated
For Tempering
- 1 tsp Cooking Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
- 2 Dry Red Chilis
- Handful Curry leaves
- A Pinch Asafoetida / Hing
Instructions
For the Vegetable
- Wash, prep the vegetable, and cube into 1 inch pieces.
- Boil the vegetable in a cup of water till done. Keep it aside.
- Soak and extract the tamarind pulp.
For the ground Masala
- Heat a pan with oil and roast all the ingredients listed. Allow to cool and grind to a powder.
Making the Pulusu
- Mix the tamarind water with 2 cups water along with jaggery
- Add the ground masala and bring to aboil
- Now add the cooked pumpkin pieces and simmer till the gravy thickens.
- Heat a pan with oil and temper with the ingredients listed.
- When it is ready, pour this over the simmering pulusu.
- Let the pulusu thickens, switch off.
- Serve hot with Rice.
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6 comments
This must have been a yummy pulusu going by the ingredients. We don’t any kind of masala and this sounds like a different version. I am bookmarking this.
We rarely use pumpkin in our cooking, but I like the idea if cooking it in tamarind , it will get a mild tartness , and even the masala sounds very tempting .
In all families we have to do different dishes for different people , The same veggie will have different avtaars , we can easily make this as a theme for BM ! Ha ha whatever we do somehow BM is always involved .
Amazing flavors in the pulusu. We love pumpkin in any form at home and so this version will be welcome too.
Sweet tasting veggies are not my husband’s favorite too. Over the years, he gave up some food preferences for me and I gave up some favorite dishes for him, so now we are both on the same page :-). The pulisu and the whole thali looks good. Glad that everyone had something to choose from (or in this case, a Thali because you had to cook something for everyone:-)) )
I made pulusu using brinjal once and we all enjoyed it. With pumpkin this looks so flavorful and delicious.
We make pumpkin vathal kuzhambu and its my absolute favorite. Will try your pulusu version. That’s one amazing veg thali. Love it.