This belongs to a category of Bangladeshi foods known as bharats. Part relish and part vegetable dish, they add extra flavor to a meal. We are beginning to find peeled and seeded butternut squash in our supermarkets now, making this dish a snap to make. Those who cannot find it will need to use a peeler to get the skin off. I like to use mustard oil here, as it gives a very Bengali taste to the dish. If you have never used it, this might be a good time to try. Otherwise, use olive oil. I love this with all pork dishes and at vegetarian meals with other vegetables, dal, and pooris (a deep-fried flatbread).

　　

Ingredients

serves 4¿5

　　3 tablespoons mustard or olive oil

　　A generous pinch of ground asafetida

　　1/2 teaspoon whole brown or yellow mustard seeds

　　4 cups (1 1/4 pounds) peeled and seeded butternut squash or pumpkin, cut into 3/4–1-inch segments

　　3/4–1 teaspoon salt

　　1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

　　1/8–1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　1 tablespoon plain yogurt

　　2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

　　

Step 1

Pour the oil into a frying pan and set over medium heat. When hot, put in the asafetida and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, a matter of seconds, put in the squash. Stir and fry for about 3 minutes or until the pieces just start to brown. Add 1/4 cup water, cover, turn heat to low, and cook about 10 minutes or until the squash is tender.

　　

Step 2

Put in the salt, sugar, cayenne, and yogurt. Stir and cook, uncovered, over medium heat, until the yogurt is absorbed and no longer visible. Sprinkle in the cilantro and stir a few times.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.