When you think of pumpkin, maybe you think of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, or pumpkin pancakes... but me, first thing to come to mind is kaddo - a yummy Afgahni appetizer made of a sweetened baked pumpkin, a tomato based ground meat sauce, and a cool creamy yogurt sauce. Mmmmmm....
Recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying kaddo at two different local restaurants: Helmand of Cambridge, MA fame ($7.50), and the newbie Ariana of Allston, MA ($5.95). Feel free to guess which one's which!
Both were tasty, but Helmand's version was sweeter.
Also, earlier this month, a Facebook buddy of mine posted in her status her adventures in making kaddo (she used the recipe found
here) for the first time, which resulted in a late night dinner for her and her man. This brought back to mind my own personal experience with the dish.
A few years ago, I took on the challenge of making kaddo myself after I ran across a recipe on Chowhound as posted by Allstonian - this sometime after having tasted kaddo at Helmand for the first time. I picked up a nice fresh sugar pumpkin from a local farmer's market, stopped by the market for some plain yogurt, and selected a Saturday for my culinary goal.
Making the sauces, both the yogurt and the meat, were simple enough. The tough part, both literally and figuratively, was the pumpkin with its super hard shell. I didn't have one of those Y-style peelers as recommended by Allstonian, so I had to go at it with my hearty chopping knife. The results, however, were worth it in my opinion and that of my lucky guests of the evening.
Kaddo bowrani (Afghani pumpkin) This dish came up on the Boston board - it's one of the standouts on the menu at the Helmand. I adapted my recipe from one I found on boston.com - don't know if it came from an article about the restaurant or not, but that's where I found it. We eat it a lot in the fall and early winter when sugar pumpkins are available. I've done it with other winter squashes such as acorn or butternut - it works, but it's best with pumpkin. Butternut, especially, makes for a notably wimpier dish. (Nonetheless, we've been known to do it with butternut squash after the fresh pumpkins disappear from shops.) One 2 to 2.5 pound sugar pumpkin2 tablespoons vegetable oil1/4 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1 cup plain yogurt1 clove garlic, crushedSalt & pepper to taste2 tablespoons vegetable oil2 medium onions, chopped1 pound lean ground beef1 clove garlic, crushed1 cup tomato sauce1/2 cup waterSet the oven at 350. Cut the pumpkin into quarters. Remove seeds and strings, peel the skin with a vegetable peeler, and cut down into about 2-inch chunks. [DH, who usually gets this job, points out that a harp-style (or "Y-style") peeler works best on the hard pumpkin - the straight vegetable peeler is much more difficult to use.]Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet [I actually use a cast iron dutch oven, which saves transferring to a different pan later on.] Brown the pumpkin pieces, turning frequently, until golden brown (about 5 minutes.) [I brown the pumpkin pretty aggressively in this step, while taking care not to scorch it.] Transfer pumpkin to a roasting pan. [Since I use the dutch oven, I don't do this!] Mix sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over pumpkin. Cover [with foil if using a roasting pan] and bake for 30 minutes, or until tender. [This seems like an awful lot of sugar, but go with it - the dish doesn't really come out sweet in the end, and it just isn't as tasty if you cut down on the sugar.] While the pumpkin is baking, make the yogurt sauce and the meat sauce. Yogurt sauce: mix together yogurt with one clove of crushed garlic in a bowl; season to taste with salt & pepper. Meat sauce: in a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and cook the onions until lightly browned. Add ground beef, the second clove of crushed garlic, and salt & pepper. Mix well and cook until beef is browned. Add tomato sauce and water, mix thoroughly and bring to a simmer, lower heat, and cook about 20 minutes until it cooks down to a thick sauce. To serve: spoon yogurt sauce onto dinner plates, add a portion of the cooked pumpkin, and top with meat sauce. Serves 4. I usually make a bulgur pilaf to go with.This is so tasty, and really easy. It's one of those meals where the different steps fit together really well - knocking out the yogurt sauce and the meat sauce fits just perfectly into the time that the pumpkin takes to cook in the oven.Allstonian, Aug 2006:Most of my changes are noted in my bracketed comments above, and have to do with technique. There is one ingredient change - the original recipe specified browning the pumpkin in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and the onions and ground beef for the meat sauce in 1/4 cup canola oil. I couldn't see any reason for specifying two different neutral cooking oils for the two items, and 1/4 cup of oil to brown 2 onions and a pound of ground beef seemed like WAY more cooking fat than was actually needed.Vivian's Notes:
1) Give yourself a LOT of time to deal with the pumpkin
2) I lessened the amount of sugar used to sprinkle on the pumpkin, but it was still good.
