Easy Sweet and Sour Pumpkin Curry | Khatta Meetha Kaddu

Give the good ol pumpkin an upgrade with this Indian spiced, sweet and sour pumpkin curry. Popularly known as khatta meetha kaddu and served best with hot off the press pooris.

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Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin chili...and so on. It’s pumpkin season and there is no looking back. I’m not much of a pumpkin fan and have not had even a single pumpkin spice latte in my life...there I said it. Please don’t judge! I love these pumpkin spiced pancakes but that is pretty much it. This sweet and sour pumpkin curry aka khatta meetha kaddu is a whole different story. This kaddu (literally means pumpkin) served with soft, fluffy pillowy pooris is a resident at the top floor of my flavortown skyscraper. Legit!

Pumpkin Curry?

Ask away. I am not really sure about the origins of this dish but as I have told you guys earlier that I am ¼ himachali (my maternal grandmother was from the northern state of Himachal Pradesh in India) and I believe that this dish has himachali roots. My mom always made this sweet and sour pumpkin curry and served it with poori which is a deep fried whole wheat flatbread (recipe for another day, see pictures). It is traditionally made with the yellow cooking pumpkin. But I have also made it with rampicante squash and butternut squash will also work great for this recipe. 

A dish fit for the Gods

This sweet and sour pumpkin curry is made without any onion and garlic also known as saathvik recipe, which means that it can be a part of a meal prepared to offer to the Gods during a religious ceremony or festival. This recipe is also famous in Benaras or Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India. It is said that no pooja/worship meal is complete in Benaras without serving khatta meetha kaddu. Such is it’s popularity.

Sweet and Savory/Khatta Meetha?

The sweet and sour notes in this recipe are achieved by adding Gudh (sweet jaggery) and imli (sour tamarind paste). Jaggery is a traditional cane sugar which is a concentrated product of sugarcane juice. If you cannot find jaggery, shakkar or brown sugar can be a close substitute. Tamarind is also a traditional spice and has a distinct flavor and tartness. Close substitutes would be amchoor (dry mango powder), anaardana (dry pomegranate seeds powder) or even lime juice. 

Recipe run down

I know I say with many recipes but this one is a pretty simple one. Since we are not adding any onion or garlic, the only aromatic needing prepped is ginger. Other than that, we make a tadka/tempering with cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds along with spices like turmeric, red chili, and coriander powders. Chopped kaddu/pumpkin, jaggery and tamarind along with some salt and that’s it. Cook, mash a little and serve sprinkled with some fresh chopped cilantro.

Here’s your handy dandy printable:

Sweet and Sour Pumpkin Curry | Khatta Meetha Kaddu

Vaishali

Give the good ol pumpkin an upgrade with this Indian spiced, sweet and sour pumpkin curry. Popularly known as khatta meetha kaddu and served best with hot off the press pooris.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1.5 lb Pumpkin/Kaddu see notes
• ▢ 3 tablespoon ghee see notes
• ▢ 1 in piece of ginger minced or paste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon asafoetida heeng
• ▢ 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢ Water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• ▢ 2 tablespoon powdered jaggery
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ 4-5 sprigs of cilantro leaves stripped and chopped

Instructions

 

• Cut the pumpkin into small cubes and mince ginger or make a paste using a mortar and pestle. See notes.
• Set a heavy bottomed pan/kadaahi/wok on medium high heat and heat the ghee. Add the fenugreek seeds and wait for them to deepen in color (do not brown), about 5 seconds.
• Now add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds along with asafoetida.
• Once the seeds start to crackle, add the red chilli, turmeric and coriander powders along with the prepped ginger.
• Cook until the raw smell of ginger goes away (about 30 seconds) and add about ½ cup water
• Once the water is heated up, add the cubed pumpkin and salt to taste. Mix everything well and let the pumpkin cook covered with a lid for about 15-20 minutes, stirring in-between.
• When the pumpkin is soft, add jaggery and tamarind paste. Mix and simmer for another five minutes. During this time, you can also use the back of your ladle to mash some of the pumpkin pieces.
• Give a taste check and adjust salt, jaggery and tamarind, if needed.
• Turn the heat off, add chopped cilantro and serve warm with pooris.

Notes

If you cannot find yellow cooking pumpkin, you can also use butternut squash or rampicante squash.

To make this vegan, you can use any neutral tasting oil. Mustard oil also works great in this recipe.

You can also use ½ tablespoon of store-bought ginger paste.

Add jaggery and tamarind after the pumpkin is cooked to get the proper balance of sweet and sour.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

If you make this Sweet and Sour Pumpkin/Khatta Meetha Kaddu, please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from you guys. And if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and Facebook! I love to look through your creations!!

Love – Vaishali

Key Recipe Tools and Ingredients:

Jaggery:Tamarind Paste: Chopping Board:

Knife: Kadaahi/Wok