Halloween 2022: Here's how you can reimagine cooking pumpkin

With Halloween approaching, pumpkins are taking over our social media feeds. Two chefs share ideas to reimagine the humble bhopla. Plus, our curated guide to get your spook on in the city

Pumpkin risotto with confit butternut squash

Ingredients 
>> 80 gm carnaroli rice   
>> 150 ml olive oil
>> 150 gm butter
>> 50 gm parmesan  
>> 300 gm pumpkin  >> 100 gm butternut squash >> 20 gm shallots >> 500 ml vegetable stock  >> 50 ml white wine >> 5 gm rosemary >> 20 gm stracciatella >> 10 gm pumpkin seeds 

Method 
For the pumpkin puree: Peel and dice the pumpkin in small, equal-sized pieces. Marinate with salt, olive oil and rosemary; wrap in an aluminium foil and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. Cool it down, remove the rosemary and blend to a fine puree.

For the confit squash: Peel and cut the squash into one-cm cubes. In a pan, put together 100 ml olive oil, 50 gm butter and the diced squash with two small sprigs of rosemary. Cover and cook on very low heat till the squash is done.

For the risotto: In a pan, add olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, add chopped shallots and sweat them till they turn translucent. Now, add carnaroli rice. Toast the rice and deglaze with white wine. Once the wine evaporates, add a little hot vegetable stock and cook on medium heat. Keep adding the vegetable stock, little at a time, till the rice is half-cooked. Tip in the pumpkin puree and mix well. Cook till the rice is al dente. Then, add butter and parmesan. Stir vigorously to emulsify. Remove the risotto on a plate and garnish with confit squash, stracciatella cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. You can top with fried sage.

Ameya Prachand, chef de partie at Sorrentina All Day Dining

Pumpkin chilli ice cream

Ingredients
>> 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree >> 1 tsp vanilla extract >> 2 cups cream >> 3/4 cups sugar >> 5 egg yolks >> 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon >> 1/2 tsp finely chopped bird’s eye chilli >> 1/4 tsp salt >> Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Method
In a bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours or up to eight hours. Heat a saucepan over medium heat; combine one and a half cups of cream and half a cup of sugar. Cook until bubbles form around the edges. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine egg yolks, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, the remaining half cup cream and the remaining one-fourth cup brown sugar. 

Whisk until smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve. Take the cream mixture off the heat. Gradually whisk about half cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spoon and keeping the mixture on a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

Now, place the bowl in a larger bowl, partially filled with ice water; stir occasionally until it’s cool. Whisk the pumpkin mixture into the custard. Cover with a plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Then, refrigerate until chilled for at least three hours or up to 24 hours. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze it. Add the chopped chillies during the last minute of churning. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm (for at least three hours).

Chef Bhairav Singh Rajput, executive chef at Banyan Tree Cafe

Join the spook fest

What if we told you that instead of just dressing up as a scary monster or urban spirit, you can listen to real stories about them? ScareCon is a convention where experts from the field will discuss and debate paranormal phenomena that they have experienced.
On: October 30; 2.30pm
At: Pioneer Hall, Bandra.
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 1,100 onwards

A previous edition of Kasa Kai’s Halloween bash

Throw on a scary costume and head to Kasa Kai Mumbai’s Graveyard: A Haunting Experience, a fun bash that will bring together Halloween games, magic show, cosplay, spooky AR experience, dance, food and drinks.
On: October 30; 6 pm to 1 am
At: Lord of the Drinks, Worli
Log on to: @kasa_kai_mumbai
Cost: Rs 500

If you’re too old to trick and treat, head to Pumpkin Fest to tuck into pump-high salad, chicken schnitzel with pumpkin fries, pumpkin cheesecake and more.
Till: October 31; 8 am to 10 pm
At: Banyan Tree Cafe. IFBE, Ballard Estate, Fort.

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