It’s Halloween today!
Nutrient-dense pumpkin is an underrated vegetable in the world albeit, in Sri Lanka the vegetable is widely used for preparing curry. The use of pumpkin becomes abundant during Halloween as the vegetable is used for making spooky jack-o-lanterns. It is during this eerie day that pumpkins get transferred into various delectable dishes in comparison to other days.
Halloween and jack-o-lanterns
Halloween is a holiday custom observed on October 31, the evening prior to All Hallows’ Day. However, in many parts of the world Halloween observance is nonreligious which is filled with spooky fun and treats.
Jack-o-lantern has become the icon of Halloween in which a pumpkin is hollowed out and carved to resemble a grotesque grinning face. Then a candle is lit inside of the pumpkin carving. This round shaped vegetable is carved to depict a scary human face and this concept is linked to Celtic ritual of representing victory over enemies and the deformed pumpkin carvings depict the severed heads of enemies who were defeated during war. It is said that the ritual has originated in Ireland.
It is mentioned in Ireland’s mythology that a stingy person called Jack had tricked the devil for his personal gains and after his death neither God nor demon allowed him to heaven and hell respectively. Hence, Jack had to roam the earth for eternity. Due to this belief, people of Ireland practiced a custom of carving sinister and terrifying faces out of their turnip harvest to chase off the wandering spirit of Jack.
It is a quite spooky belief that spirits of the dead come to the earth and mingle with the living on Halloween’s day. Hence, the living wear creepy masks to resemble ghosts and clad in that way to trick the spirits of the dead. It is believed that when the dead spirits or demons see another scary creature, they flee in fear. Humans clad in ghostly attire and masks to trick the dead spirits on Halloween Day which is also known as All Hallows’ Eve.
The jack-o-lanterns also denote the night watchman.
Why pumpkin?
In Ireland, during their Celtic festival named Samhain (which was later celebrated as Halloween) they carved demon-like faces from their newly obtained harvest such as turnips and potatoes etc. and lit candles inside of them to put the evil and dead spirits to flight. Since many could not afford metal lanterns those days (pre-Christian era) lanterns carved of root vegetables became a popular practice in keeping with their tradition.
This time was also the end of summer and the beginning of a new year on November 1. That was also the time of their harvest and vegetables were found in abundance. Jack-o-lanterns made of vegetables also became an environmentally friendly way of practicing their tradition.
It is said that Irish migrants to America introduced the custom of carving jack-o-lanterns with pumpkins which were native to America. Pumpkin then became an ideal vegetable due to the abundance and also its size and the shape matched their purpose. Today, the custom of using pumpkins to carve sinister-looking lanterns to frighten the dead spirits has become widespread.
Dishes made of pumpkin
In Sri Lanka the use of pumpkin is restricted to curry, yet commonplace. Apart from the fruit, the tender leaves, flowers and seeds are edible too. Soup, bread, muffin, biscuit, cookie and cheesecake made of pumpkin are popular during Halloween celebration. It is notable that the food prepared for this festival is given a spooky and weird appearance.
Pumpkin is rich in carotenoids which are abundantly found in yellow and orange coloured fruits and vegetables. Apart from that the vegetable is rich in fiber, vitamins and other essential micronutrients. Pumpkins are rich in starch that gives energy.
Blue rice stuffed pumpkin
Rice stuffed pumpkin is popular in many parts of the world. Although not very popular, some communities in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka prepare a similar dish with the use of pumpkin during the time of harvest. They put rice, dried fish (‘Karawala/karuvadei’), onion, green chili, curry leaves, curry powder, chili powder and salt into a hollowed pumpkin. They also add oil and sometimes little coconut milk. After adding the ingredients, the pumpkin is closed with its (pumpkin) lid, wrapped in a banana leaf and placed in burning charcoal and let it cook for about an hour.
Ingredients:
* One whole pumpkin
* Basmati rice - 250g
* Butterfly pea flowers - 20
* Chicken - 100g
* Carrot – 1
* Moringa leaves - 50g
* Butter - 1 tbsp
* Olive oil - 3 tbsps
* Salt
* Spring onions - 3
* Green chili - 1
* Ginger-garlic paste - ½ tsp
* Curd - 3 tbsps
* Curry powder - ½ tbsp
* Chili powder - ½ tbbs
* White pepper powder - ½ tsp
Preparation
Wash basmati rice and soak for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, you can hollow out the pumpkin for stuffing and baking. Wash the pumpkin well and cut a circle at the top of the fruit. Then remove the yellowish flesh and seeds inside. Using a metal spoon, you can scoop out more pumpkin flesh.
Then wash butterfly pea flowers carefully and steep in boiling water for 10 minutes. After the water becomes bright blue in colour, strain the water and keep aside.
To cook basmati rice, add butterfly pea water just to cover the rice. You do not need to add more water to cook rice because rice should be eighty percent cooked. Add salt to taste. Once the rice is eighty percent cooked, remove from heat. Chop chicken into small pieces. In a bowl add chopped chicken, ginger- garlic paste, salt, curry powder, chili powder and curd. Mix well and marinade for half an hour.
Chop spring onions, green chili and carrot. Wash moringa leaves and remove the leaves from the tender stem.
Heat a pan and add two tablespoons of olive oil. When oil is heated add butter. When the butter is melted add marinated chicken and fry until they become golden brown in colour. To that, add chopped onion, green chili, carrot and moringa leaves. Mix well and fry for another couple of minutes. Then add cooked blue rice, mix and cook for another minute.
In a bowl, mix salt, white pepper powder and olive oil. Apply this mixture on the inside of the hollowed pumpkin. Then stuff the prepared rice mix in the pumpkin.
Preheat the oven to 210 degrees C. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and the stuffed ingredients are cooked well. As it is being baked, the rice absorbs the flavour of the pumpkin.
(tsp - teaspoon, tbsp - tablespoon)