Halloween 2022: Why be scared of pumpkins when you can dish them out in style?

It is that time of the year when pumpkins take centre stage around the world. They are carved and used to make Jack O'Lanterns around the house to depict and celebrate Halloween. In India, people may not be celebrating the festival as much but that doesn't mean the vegetable can't be celebrated beyond the event at its rightful place -- on the dining table.

Now, pumpkins aren't clearly a favourite among people and that is why innovation is key. It will help you rediscover the vegetable, beyond khatta meetha kaddoo and the classic pumpkin soup.

Mid-day.com reached out to chefs in the city who experiment with the vegetable at their restaurants, not only during this time but throughout the year. These dishes and their recipes may just make you rethink your approach towards pumpkin by sneaking it into a risotto, chaat, pie and delicious ravioli.

Pumpkin barley risotto, all-spice braised duck, cinnamon balsamic treacle by Chef Shrikant Jogdankar at JW Marriott Sahar, Andheri East
City-based chef Shrikant Jogdankar, who experiments with the pumpkin for its nutritional value, says it is not only ideal because as a healthy option but also because it complements the taste of a risotto really well. He pairs the pumpkin barley risotto with a deliciously meaty all-spice braised duck and cinnamon balsamic treacle, which looks like a painting on a plate.

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - 120 gms, barley - 70 gms, duck breast - 120 gms, garlic - 10 gms, thyme - 1 sprig, all-spice powder - 2 gms, onion - 10 gms, unsalted butter- 10 gms, salt - 5 gms, white pepper - 2 gms, olive oil - 10 ml, parmesan - 10 gms, balsamic - 150 ml, honey - 10 ml, cinnamon - 1 stick.

Method:

For Pumpkin barley risotto
1. Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and marinate with salt, pepper, crushed garlic and thyme. (Use butternut squash if available)
2. Roast it in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes.
3. Sauté olive oil in a pan and add chopped onion, garlic, thyme leaves and barley.
4. Add stock and let it simmer for some time.
5. Add the mashed roasted pumpkin and stock to the pan and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes.
6. Add parmesan and serve hot.

For duck breast:
1. Marinate the duck breast with salt, pepper, olive oil and all-spice powder.
2. Pan sear the skin and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Gently slice the duck breast and place on top of the barley risotto.

For Cinnamon balsamic treacle:
1. Heat the balsamic in a saucepan with cinnamon in it and reduce till half the quantity.
2. Add honey in the end and drizzle on the duck breast.

Pumpkin blossom chaat by Chef Sarfaraz Ahmed, head chef at Trèsind Mumbai, Bandra Kurla Complex
Why think of a complicated dish when you can simply innovate with your love for chaat? The pumpkin blossom chaat at Trèsind is inspired by the blossoming of fresh flowers. Pumpkin is popular in Bihar, Odisha and Kerala, where they are eaten as fritters or a stir-fry but Chef Ahmed says he makes use of the vegetable in chaat, one of Mumbai's most favourite street-side snacks. While the flowers add a freshness, crisp and crunchy texture, the pumpkin mixture adds a unique flavour to the chaat.

Ingredients (For four portions):
Pumpkin flowers - 6 nos, Pumpkin - 500 gms, ghee (clarified butter) - 100 gms, salt to taste, sugar - 25 gms, fennel seeds - 10 gms, amchur powder - 5 gms, green chilli paste from 2 chillies, ginger (chopped) - 5 gms, jaggery - 20 gms, chaat masala - 10 gms, tamarind chutney - 50 gms, sweet yoghurt - 100 gms, mint chutney - 75 gms, tempura flour - 100 gms.

Method:
1. Cut and roast the pumpkin in an oven with salt, a pinch of sugar and ghee at 150 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Once done, scoop out the flesh and retain.
2. Take a sauté pan and add 50 gms of ghee. Once the ghee is medium hot, add fennel seeds, chopped ginger, green chilli paste and pumpkin flesh. Stir continuously to a dry homogenous mixture.
3. Add salt, jaggery, amchur and chaat masala. Cool the mixture until warm.
4. Make a batter with the tempura flour and iced water to medium thick consistency.
5. Take out three petals from each pumpkin flower.
6. Heat the remaining ghee in a frying pan.
7. Coat the flower petals with the batter and fry till crisp on medium heat. Sprinkle chaat masala on the petals for seasoning.
8. For plating, pipe the pumpkin mixture on two petals of flower and stack them to make a millefeuille by placing a petal on top.
9. Top the millefeuille with sweet yoghurt, tamarind chutney and mint chutney.
10. Garnish with raw pumpkin flower petals and edible flowers.

Healthy pumpkin pie by Chef Rachel Goenka
City-based chef and owner of The Sassy Spoon, Rachel Goenka believes pumpkins can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. She says, "Quite like ingredients such as sweet potato, beetroot and carrots, pumpkins lend a nutty earthiness in flavour to the dish. They also contain a good amount of natural sugar and when baked, the caramelisation adds another dimension of flavour to baked goods." Owing to Goenka's experiment and love for the vegetable's versatility, the healthy pumpkin pie will definitely be a hit.

Ingredients

For base:
Cornflakes - 150 gms, grain sugar - 20 gms, unsalted butter - 80 gms.

For filling:
Large eggs - 3, Light brown sugar - 165 gms, pumpkin puree - 440 gms, heavy whipping cream - 180 ml, vanilla essence - 1 tsp, ground cinnamon - 1½ tsp, ground ginger - ½ tsp.

Method:

For cornflakes pie crust:
1. Take cornflakes, crush it with a rolling pin, add grain sugar and unsalted soft butter; mix well and line up the pie mould.
2. Put in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 7 minutes and keep aside.

For pie filling:
1. Cut a pumpkin in small dices, place in a baking tray along with spices and cover with aluminium foil; cook for 40 minutes.
2. Cool and make a fine puree in the blender.
3. In a separate bowl, take eggs yolks only with sugar and vanilla, mix it well and then add the pumpkin puree to it.
4. Add 100 ml heavy cream in it and mix before pouring it in the pie crust. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes.
5. It is ready to serve.

Pumpkin and goats cheese ravioli in sage and butter sauce by Chef Manpreet Dhody, I'm Wholesome
If you've always loved Italian food, this ravioli should be your next cooking adventure. Keeping in mind its local availability, co-founder Manpreet Dhody uses pumpkin for a delicious ravioli because it pairs beautifully with pepper, goat cheese and basic butter sauce. Got a party to host for Halloween or the upcoming holiday season? This may just become a favourite among friends and family.

Step 1

For the sage butter sauce:

Ingredients:
Fresh sage (chopped or whole) - 15 gms or 1 tbsp, garlic (chopped) - 15 gms or 1 tbsp, unsalted butter (cut into cubes) - 80 gms or approximately 1/4th cup, salt to taste, crushed black pepper to taste, pasta water (to adjust consistency).

Method:
1) In a pan, heat butter, garlic and sage together.
2) Adjust the consistency with pasta water until butter and water form an emulsion.

Step 2

For the goat's cheese and pumpkin filling

Ingredients:
Pumpkin (diced)- 150 gms, garlic (chopped) - 4-5 cloves, olive oil (for roasting), goat's cheese - 80 gms, honey - 1 tsp, salt and cracked pepper to taste.

Method:
1. Marinate the pumpkin with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes.
2. Cool down the pumpkin, add goat's cheese with the honey and set it aside.

Step 3

For the goat's cheese and pumpkin ravioli in sage butter sauce
Pasta dough - 100 gms, filling - 100 gms, sage butter sauce, parmesan cheese for garnish, sage leaves for garnish.

Method:
1. Roll out the pasta dough and add 1 tbsp worth of filling leaving some distance.
2. Roll out another layer of pasta dough and place it on top of the filling.
3. Cut out the shapes and add to boiling water. Remove when they start floating.
4. Add them to your sauce to coat each pasta.
5. Plate it and garnish it with parmesan cheese, roasted pumpkin and sage leaves.

Spiced pumpkin pie by Chef Sunil Panday, Anglo Indian Cafe, Lonavala
With an Indian take on the classic pumpkin pie, chef Panday adds local spices and flavours to this flaky pie. The seasonal ingredient is served with a pumpkin pate and a refreshing rocket salad.

Ingredients

Stuffing:
Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp, red pumpkin - 200 gms, jeera - 1 tbsp, curry leaves - 6-8 nos, chopped green chilli - 1 tbsp, garlic - 30 grams, onion - 50 gms, red chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp, turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp, coriander powder - 1 tbsp, homemade garam masala -1/2 tbsp, jeera powder - 1/2 tbsp, fresh coriander - 1 gm, salt - 1/2 tbsp.

Pie crust:
Butter - 80 gms, flour - 225 gms, egg - 1 whole egg, sugar - 175 gms.

Pumpkin pate
Cream cheese - 80 gms, salt - 1 pinch, lemon juice - 1 pinch, pumpkin puree - 50 gms .

Method:

Filling:
1. First boil pumpkin in water for 5 minutes until the skin peels off.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a pan, then add the curry leaves, onions, and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes until slightly brown.
3. Toss in the jeera, green chilies and spices and cook for 7 minutes until aromatic.
4. Add the blanched pumpkin to the spiced mixture and cook until tender.
5. Garnish the pumpkin mixture with fresh coriander.

Pie crust:
1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degree Celsius for 7 minutes.
2. Mix butter and sugar in a food processor.
3. Add 1 whole egg and the flour to it.
4. Mould the dough in a round baking tray.
5. Bake the dough for 4 minutes.
6. Add the pumpkin filling to the baked tart and cover with a pastry sheet.
7. Brush the pastry sheet with milk.
8. Bake the stuffed pie for another 12 minutes or till golden brown.

Pumpkin pate
1. Mix the pumpkin puree with cream cheese, lemon juice, and salt, make a soft paste.

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