Kaddu Ka Khatta

Before you start

• Soak the tamarind in 100ml hot water for 20 minutes, then squeeze and strain out the pulp.
• Grind the anardana coarsely in a mortar just before cooking - ready-ground powder goes flat within weeks.
• Do not peel the pumpkin. The skin holds the cubes together through a long simmer.

Method

1. Heat the mustard oil in a kadhai until it smokes faintly and the sharp smell drops away, about 2 minutes. Take it off the heat for 20 seconds to cool slightly.Raw mustard oil tastes acrid. Smoking it once is the whole difference.
2. Add the fenugreek seeds and let them darken to a nut brown, no more than 15 seconds, then the cumin.Fenugreek turns bitter the second it goes past brown - have the cumin in your hand ready.
3. Stir in the asafoetida, then immediately add the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and dry ginger. Fry 20 seconds.
4. Tip in the pumpkin and toss to coat every piece in the spiced oil. Fry on medium for 5 minutes until the edges start to catch.
5. Pour in 300ml water, add salt, cover and simmer 12 to 15 minutes until a knife slides into a cube with no resistance.
6. Add the tamarind pulp, the ground anardana and the jaggery. Stir gently - from here on you want the cubes intact.
7. Simmer uncovered 8 to 10 minutes, mashing four or five pieces against the side of the pan, until the gravy thickens to a loose chutney that clings to the pumpkin.Taste now and balance: it should read sour first, sweet second, never cloying. More jaggery or more tamarind, a spoon at a time.
8. Finish with garam masala and coriander leaves. Serve at room temperature alongside rice and madra.

Storage

Keeps 4 days refrigerated and the sourness settles and deepens. Serve cold or at room temperature; it is not a dish that wants reheating, though a minute on low is fine.