An Art From The Heart: Pumpkin In Sweet Gravy

Full of love, ingredients cooked for loved ones, and presented as beautifully as possible because it is pure art from the heart.

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In the past, I never thought that cooking would be a beautiful medium for me to convey my feelings. In the past, I just thought that cooking was just about survival. But apparently it wasn't.

Now I realize that there are many feelings I can express by cooking. Especially, when I give the results of my cooking to my husband and my husband's family.

I feel happy if my husband and my husband's family can accept it by eating my cooking until it's finished. Also, I feel like I can connect more easily with them.

When my mother was still alive, she always waited for my new dishes and she would smile and enjoy every dish I made. My late mom is the one who always makes me excited until now for me to be able to explore new dishes.

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SWEET PUMPKIN IN COCONUT MILK

Have you ever heard of sweet pumpkin dessert? In Indonesia, it is actually a mainstay menu for serving pumpkin. People only know how to cook pumpkin as a sweet dish with coconut milk.

Sweet pumpkin dessert is also popular in my family as well as my husband's family. We often eat sweet pumpkin after dinner if we are having a gathering together.

For us, you could say that a quality pumpkin is a delicious pumpkin for making sweet pumpkin with coconut milk. There is a distinctive texture from old pumpkins. The tender texture after boiling that cannot be expressed in words. We call this distinctive texture the word PULEN. Tender, soft but not mushy.

It's quite tricky to find pumpkins with a good texture to make sweet desserts. Luckily, now I have a new favorite source for getting good pumpkins, namely from my husband's uncle's fertile garden. The land there is very fertile and it is not surprising that many of the vegetables and fruit are of good quality.

To be honest, I have often made sweet pumpkin desserts and posted it on HIVE. But I often make it with different visuals and with different amounts of sweetness according to taste. So, this time I will share with you the sweet pumpkin in coconut milk that I served to my husband and mother-in-law.

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WHY COCONUT MILK?
Can we replace coconut milk with other plant-based milk such as soy milk and almond milk? In my opinion, the answer is no. I thought that would be strange because soy milk and almond milk have a strong aroma and don't go well with pumpkin cubes.

Actually, coconut milk has a distinctive taste and aroma. Slightly sweet savory taste. Also, the aroma is not as strong as soy milk and almond milk. It's just that coconut milk is thicker than them.

So, coconut milk creates a creamy texture for gravy ingredients. Suitable for serving as desserts or for curry gravy to serve side dishes.

Another thing to pay attention to is that coconut milk is not suitable for drinking as a single drink as milk. That's going to get weird in your throat for sure. Like @incublus did :D

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THE INGREDIENTS

• 400-500 grams of old pumpkin (avoid young pumpkin)
• 500 ml of coconut milk
• 500 ml of water (or adjusted to fit the pumpkin cubes in the pan)
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• sprinkle of salt
• pandan leaves or you can use vanilla to create the fragrance

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COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

REMOVE PUMPKIN SEEDS

Cut the pumpkin into several large pieces. I used 1/4 of a large pumpkin. You can use the whole pumpkin if you use a small pumpkin. Then, remove the seeds.

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CUT PUMPKIN INTO CUBES

Remove pumpkin skin first, then cut the pumpkin into pieces. I formed them into cubes. Don't make it too small because the pumpkin can be crushed when boiled later. Also, don't make it too big to make it easier to swallow the pumpkin into your mouth when eating later.

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BOIL PUMPKIN

Bring the water to a boil, then add the pumpkin pieces that have been washed clean. Also, add a pinch of salt and pandan leaves. Boil pumpkin for about 15 minutes or until tender.

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ADD BROWN SUGAR

Add brown sugar once the pumpkin becomes tender. Stir gently so that the pumpkin cubes don't crumble.

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ADD COCONUT MILK

In the final step, add coconut milk. Stir them until simmer. Keep an eye on the coconut milk so that its texture doesn't become damaged when the temperature is too high. So, avoid it boiling by continuing to stir slowly. Then lift.

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SERVING WAYS

Serve sweet pumpkin in coconut milk while warm. But it can be served cold after storing in the refrigerator. We usually still eat the remaining sweet pumpkin for the next morning after storing it in the refrigerator.

Here, I also serve sweet pumpkin with slices of baked pumpkin for extra sensation. You can also add something crunchy like roasted almonds or cashews or even pistachio nuts.

🎃🎃🎃 SEE YOU, VEGGIE LOVERS! ❤️

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Thank you for reading my blog and reblog if you want my blog this time worthy of reading by others.

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Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari

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