This is a creative and beautiful dish to serve when pumpkins are in season through the fall!
It's a two step process. First, make your plov!
Ingredients for the plov:
1.5 cups rice (rinsed then soaked for at least 15 minutes)
2 to 2.5 cups water, depending on rice you use
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup carrots, sliced thinly and uniformly
Handful of yellow raisins, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of asafetida (this is widely used as a substitute for garlic and onion...however, feel free to use half an onion diced finely instead
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt to taste if you want to use more or less)
1-2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
Note here: You can also go a little untraditional and add other ingredients to the rice mix, such as celery, red or green peppers, and even zucchini!
Method -
Heat the oil in a pot, and then fry the cumin seeds for about 30 seconds. Add asafetida. If using onion, add here and stir fry for a minute or so. Add carrots, fry another 3-5 minutes. Add salt. Add the rice, and fry another minute, then add turmeric. Next add the water and bring to a low boil. Cover with a lid for 15 minutes. After fifteen minutes, add the chickpeas and raisins. Fluff the rice with a fork carefully, mixing the ingredients together, cover for another 3-5 minutes. Make sure that the rice is not burning at the bottom of the pan! Turn off heat. Fold in some of your favorite herbs if you'd like, such as cilantro.
Next, take your pumpkin and cut a circle out near the top. Carefully scoop out the seeds and 'stringy' parts, discard or save to roast seeds later. NOTE: Japanese 'kabocha' squash (bright orange) works very well and the taste of the squash is even more delicious than standard 'Halloween' pumpkins. Check if your pumpkin can sit comfortably in a flat pan - if not, cut a thin layer off the bottom to 'level out' the pumpkin. Spoon the plov into the pumpkin and cover tightly with the pumpkin top. Put your pumpkin in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for 35-40 minutes. At 40 minutes, the pumpkin should be done, but each pumpkin is different! Take your pumpkin out of the oven and remove the top. Carefully cut one 'wedge' and serve. You can then 'carve' the pumpkin and serve rice on pumpkin wedges, or just serve the rice and save the pumpkin for later.
Note: if you're using a big pumpkin to serve the rice in, then the leftover pumpkin is GREAT to use for pumpkin muffins, lentil-pumpkin soup, or pumpkin grechka!
It's a two step process. First, make your plov!
Ingredients for the plov:
1.5 cups rice (rinsed then soaked for at least 15 minutes)
2 to 2.5 cups water, depending on rice you use
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup carrots, sliced thinly and uniformly
Handful of yellow raisins, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of asafetida (this is widely used as a substitute for garlic and onion...however, feel free to use half an onion diced finely instead
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt to taste if you want to use more or less)
1-2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
Note here: You can also go a little untraditional and add other ingredients to the rice mix, such as celery, red or green peppers, and even zucchini!
Method -
Heat the oil in a pot, and then fry the cumin seeds for about 30 seconds. Add asafetida. If using onion, add here and stir fry for a minute or so. Add carrots, fry another 3-5 minutes. Add salt. Add the rice, and fry another minute, then add turmeric. Next add the water and bring to a low boil. Cover with a lid for 15 minutes. After fifteen minutes, add the chickpeas and raisins. Fluff the rice with a fork carefully, mixing the ingredients together, cover for another 3-5 minutes. Make sure that the rice is not burning at the bottom of the pan! Turn off heat. Fold in some of your favorite herbs if you'd like, such as cilantro.
Next, take your pumpkin and cut a circle out near the top. Carefully scoop out the seeds and 'stringy' parts, discard or save to roast seeds later. NOTE: Japanese 'kabocha' squash (bright orange) works very well and the taste of the squash is even more delicious than standard 'Halloween' pumpkins. Check if your pumpkin can sit comfortably in a flat pan - if not, cut a thin layer off the bottom to 'level out' the pumpkin. Spoon the plov into the pumpkin and cover tightly with the pumpkin top. Put your pumpkin in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for 35-40 minutes. At 40 minutes, the pumpkin should be done, but each pumpkin is different! Take your pumpkin out of the oven and remove the top. Carefully cut one 'wedge' and serve. You can then 'carve' the pumpkin and serve rice on pumpkin wedges, or just serve the rice and save the pumpkin for later.
Note: if you're using a big pumpkin to serve the rice in, then the leftover pumpkin is GREAT to use for pumpkin muffins, lentil-pumpkin soup, or pumpkin grechka!
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