Craii Al Kashmiri Food Recipes

Kashmiri Food Recipes

Craii Al

Kashmiri Food Recipes

Craii Al

Al has a great religious importance for kashmiri pandits and is prepared weather it is a festival or a fast. On the day of Janam Ashtmi, we use to prepare it to eat with falahaar. We prepare it in various ways like craii al, thappa al etc. Today I am going to prepare craii al, steps of which are as follows.

Ingredients

1 kg kaddu of good quality (pumpkin).
1 table spoon salt or to taste.
2 table spoons mirchi powder (red chilly powder).
2 table spoons saunf powder (fennel powder).
1 tea spoon saunth powder (ginger powder).
1/2 table spoon haldi powder (turmeric powder).
1 tea spoon zeera (cumin seeds).
1/4 tea spoon hing (asafoetida).
1/2 tea spoon kaala zeera (black cumin).
3-4 crushed moti elaichi (black cardamom).
4-5 half crushed laung (cloves).
5 ladles of mustard oil or as per need.

Method

Peel off the kaddu (pumpkin), cut it into 50 g pieces, wash them and keep them aside to drain off the water.
Make holes in each piece with the help of a knitting needle.
Heat oil in a pan and fry 5-6 pieces at a time, till they turn brown. (Fry all the pieces in the same way).
Drain off the excess oil from the pan and let the rest of the oil to cool for 2 minutes.
Keep the pan on low flame and put zeera, mirch powder, hing along with 50 ml of water with constant stirring till water evaporates and dark red colour appears.
Put kaddu pieces and the contents of pan in a patila in which they are to be cooked.
Add two small glasses of water, salt, saunf, saunth, haldi, laung, moti elaichi and put on full flame.
As soon as it starts boiling, turn the stove to low flame, cover it with a lid and cook till tender.
Put kala zeera in it and cook for another 1 minute and serve with hot boiled rice.

Note: If you will not find the al a sweet one, add 1/2 spoon of sugar to make it more tasty.