Suddenly, Fall has fallen, and from one day to the other we needed a change of outfit: I was sadly obliged to drop the T-shirt style, and pull on a coat. Now, the sunny days remain a faded piece of nostalgia in face of the wet, moist and cold gloominess. So I invited my friends over for a common cooking on Sunday. In such a depressing weather, it is much better to spend time together having fun and creating.
We all attract the like ones, so I am full of Vata friends and this was evident from the moment they arrived: all of them dressed up warmly with hip warmers and warm scarves. I am also very sensitive to cold, especially in my lower back. Vatas are the windy type with lots of air, which characteristics are just exacerbated by this cool, windy weather.
Our main goal was: to warm up, eat well, get stabilized so that we don't get blown away on the way home, and last but not least to get wrapped in each other's company and sunbathe in the kindness of our friends.
Pumpkin is our big favourite, with its orange colour and rounded shape this fruit is already a symbol for warmth and groundedness. So the menu was pumpkin puree with thyme flavoured bulgur.
Ingredients:
- 1 middle-sized pumpkin
- 2 bulbs of garlic
- half of a purple onion
- raw ginger
- peanuts (unsalted)
- four, five carrots
- bulgur
- spices: nutmeg, coriander, cumin, black pepper, if you want, you can also add some garam masala, thyme
Preparation:
Make a spoonful of butter melt in a pot and add the spices for the masala: coriander, cumin, nutmeg. When the coriander seeds start to pop out, add the onions, the thinly sliced garlic and the chopped ginger, plus the peanuts. Wait a little and then add the carrots cut into smaller squares and the finely cut pumpkin. Add some salt, and if needed, gradually add some more spices: cumin, nutmeg, black pepper, garam masala. Let the mixture cook together until the pumpkin gets the puree texture.
In the meantime, boil the bulgur adding some thyme or other green mix (e.g. Provence mix). Spice the bulgur lightly.
For our Sunday lunch, the food was really tasty, and because we could activate most of our tastebuds in all different directions (sweet, salty, pungent, sour, astringent) we felt really satiated although we had not much food for the five of us. You will more easily feel nicely full, when you have a good combination of tastes, then even a smaller amount will suffice. Yet if your meal has only a few flavours, being a bit one-sided or boring for the tongue, you will snack through the whole day trying to satisfy the desire for the full spectrum of tastes.
Pumpkin is a seasonal fruit, so it is very natural to eat it in October, on the other hand it is very juicy and sweet, therefore grounding like earth, making it a perfect food for airy Vatas. Too much wetness in itself brings about the dampness of Kapha, so to make the dish more warming we used quite a few hot spices, like ginger. Ginger has an overall health prevention function during the autumn season because due to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties it helps to prevent the cold, cough and the flu. Not to mention its boosting impact on the jatharagni, our digestive fire.
If we have delicious food and heart-warming friends, who is afraid of the Cold outside?
