Pumpkin Pork Stew

Description

Pumpkin and Pork "chili" recipe

Main course pumpkin recipes seem few and far between. I used to go to an Afghan restaurant (now closed) that served Kadu (pumpkin) in some form of a meat stew. The following was inspired by that Afghan cook. The spice profile below is chili-like (Americans have called this stuff “chili”) and is quite good. I have tried a curry spice profile with less success. There is much opportunity to experiment with spices if you like a different flavor (how about black pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cardamom?).

• Total Preparation Time: 30 minutes plus several hours cooking time

Ingredients

• cubed pork
• flour
• spices (ground cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, bay leaves)
• onions
• green peppers
• celery
• garlic
• cubed skinned cooking pumpkin (no, canned pumpkin won’t really work in this recipe)
• large can diced tomatoes
• hot ancho or other pepper, browned over the gas burner and cut up

Directions

1. Dredge cubed pork (could be any cut, probably the cheaper the better) in seasoned flour (1 cup of flour plus a tablespoon or so each of salt, ground pepper and ground cumin).
2. Fry in canola oil until brown on each side (turn the pork cubes a couple of times while browning).
3. Remove browned pork, add cut up onions, peppers, celery and garlic and fry until soft.
4. Place sautéed vegetables, browned pork, and cubed pumpkin (cut up a sugar pumpkin, peel off skin and cube) plus 1 large can of diced tomatoes into a slow cooker or cast iron dutch oven.
5. Add some ground hot pepper (like ancho, browned over the stove burner, outer skin removed and then very finely chopped).
6. For spices add more ground cumin, ground pepper, a dash of cayenne, maybe some basil or thyme, perhaps a dash of cinnamon, and a couple of bay leaves.
7. Add some chicken broth or water to make a stew consistency.
8. Cook all day in the slow cooker or several hours in the dutch oven placed in a 350°F oven, adding more broth or water as necessary.
9. Taste and adjust the seasonings (usually you need to add salt but it depends on how salty the chicken broth is if you use broth) 20 minutes before serving.