Pumpkins in March?

When most Americans think of Pumpkins they imagine jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pie on a crisp fall day. However, here at the Iskashitaa Refugee Network, we have pumpkins almost all year around and view them as a wonderful gift to welcome Afghan refugees to their new home! Pumpkins, or Kadoo (the Dari word for pumpkin) are used year round in Afghanistan and are considered an essential part of Afghan cuisine. When new Afghan refugees arrive in Tucson, they are greeted with a whole new world, new language, new way of living, new culture and new unfamiliar foods. It gives us great joy to welcome them with open arms and kadoo for them to prepare, enjoy and be comforted by! 

The most common way to enjoy Kadoo is barni kadoo, braised pumpkin with ginger, onions and spices served with  garlic yogurt and naan. It is described as sweet, savory and spicy. Barni kadoo is considered a signature Afghan dish that is typically served at weddings, family events or when hosting guests. By keeping pumpkins year round, we are able to welcome multiple Afghan families to Tucson and gift them with a delicacy from their native country. We like to think of this as giving them a little taste of home while we welcome them into their new home!

If you are interested in preparing and enjoying kadoo, check out our recipe that was shared with us by Nargis Nabi, one of the refugees we’ve served. 

AFGHAN KADU by Nargis Nabi (Perfect Pumpkin Appetizer)

Servings: 8 , Serve this dish with basmati long grain rice or naan bread. It is delicious!

Clean and prepare pumpkin for cooking.

Cook pumpkin/squash – we suggest boiling or roasting (can microwave also) 2 lb fresh cut up pumpkin or winter squash (Peel skin after cooking and compost the fibers/skin, stems or save for crafts/art).

Ingredients to start

1/4 cup corn oil or olive oil

2 onions chopped

5 large cloves garlic from Forever Yong Farm

5 local tomatoes or home-canned (2/3 quart) whole or chopped tomatoes

1/2 Tbls salt

Heat pan with oil, saute garlic in onions until tender, add pumpkin, cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently, add tomatoes and salt. Prepare Tomato sauce (below)

TOMATO SAUCE: Mix in bowl

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup tomato paste mixed with

1 Tbls ground local coriander (cilantro seed)

1 small thai chili minced or ½ tsp. dried chili to taste not to kill

1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

Pinch of sugar to taste

Adjust chili to heat level desired – Sonoran Scorch (hot hot like the Sonoran and Afghani sun; Sonoran Sunset (medium), Sonoran sunrise (for the faint and kids)

YOGURT Sauce

1 & 1/2 cups Yogurt

3 cloves local garlic minced and crushed

1/4 c. gleaned lemon juice or local lime juice

1/2 tsp. sugar

pinch salt

Process in a food processor or blender until VERY smooth. Keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you want a thinner yogurt, just add a little water until it's the consistency you want.

You can use a dollop of sour cream on top when you serve instead. This topping will cool if the Kadu is super spicy. This reminds me of working with Nebraskan Wesleyan Alternative Break staying at St. Francis in the Foothills UMC. Nargis and Sara Nabi showed us how to make this dish out of a Jack-o-lantern. Nargis showed off her machete and knife but when it came time to add thai chilies from Barbara’s garden, Barbara repeatedly warned they are super spicy and how we should try to NOT kill the students. Nargis and Sara in a rush, left the scene of the crime before the taste buds were burned. This incident later to go down in Iskashitaa History is known as Attempted Culinary Homicide, Afghan style. Screaming in pain Barbara called Sara in her get away car to say we were dying and she said use yogurt to put the fire out in your mouth, with no yoghurt at the scene of the crime, we had two commercial size containers of sour cream which she quickly said could suffice as long as we were not looking to lose weight. Burning tongues, tearing eyes, coughing, choking, pulsating mouths were soothed, at least using every bit of the sour cream to enjoy our first Afghan Kadu Nargis style. A dish no one will ever forget.

GARNISH:

local fresh, chopped or dry, crushed mint leaves, crushed

Mix together ingredients for Tomato Sauce in a bowl, then add to squash mixture in fry pan. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes over low heat, until the pumpkin is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated. Mix together the ingredients for the yogurt sauce.

To serve: Spread half the yogurt sauce on a plate and lay the cooked squash on top. Top with remaining yogurt and any cooking juices left over. Sprinkle with mint.