It is the season of festivals for Indians. Â Starts around September and goes on till mid November.
‘Ayudha Pooja’, that’s what we celebrate in the Southern Part of India this week. Â It is a very interesting festival. Â Ayudha means weapons/instruments. Â On this day, we pay our respect to all the regular household items we use. Â Knifes, screw drivers, hammer, calculator, you name it, if we can keep it for prayers, we will.
It is a public holiday, a week of holidays back in India. It is especially a big one for small business owners. They close down their shops for 3 days. To me, as a 10 yr old, all I saw in front of me was a lot of cleaning, more cleaning and some more.  It was the festival I dreaded the most.  My dad being a perfectionist, started the clean up a week before the big day.  The vehicles were washed, all closets organized, the fans were detailed.  It was a lot of stimulation for a 10 yr old.
On the bright side, the festival was when we would keep our books, text books, pencils, pen, anything that a student needed for school.  We lined everything up for prayers. The fun part, we kids didn’t have to study or do homework for 3 days..THREE Days….that was the best part.
It’s funny how the festivals were designed. Â It is a festival to be thankful to the everyday common things that we take for granted. Â Now, as an adult, I get it. Â Taking a step back, it is the time to be thanking everything and everyone. In a sense, it could be considered as our Thanks Giving day.
Here’s a recipe I am thankful for, so easy and something I enjoy making this time of the year.
I wonder why we call it Pumpkin butter, there’s no butter here, although I did use some ghee/clarified butter. This is an easy version. Â Baking it first and later cooking with some brown sugar, makes it very easy. Â You can add any spice you want and can even add coconut sugar. Â It’s so good.
We love having this on buttered toasts and in this pull apart bread, so so good.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Hugs. xx
- 3 delicata or kombucha squash or the mix of two
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ tsp powdered cardamom
- 2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
- 1¼ cup warm water + 2-3 tbsp of water(110 degrees)
- 1 packet active dry yeast-2¼ tsp
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp vegetable shortening melted
- 4 cups bread flour
- Pumpkin butter
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- Cut and Bake the squash with the skin on and seeds, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Take it out and let it cool. Then take the seeds out, peel off the skin carefully. You will be left with the flesh. Mash the flesh and keep aside.
- In a non stick pan, add the ghee or clarified butter, all the squash and brown sugar. On medium heat, keep stirring till it leaves the side of the pan. It will take about 15 minutes. MAKE sure NOT to let the bottom burn.
- Once it gets thick forms a ball, turn off the heat and add the cardamom powder. Mix very well.
- Let cool very well and bottle it up.
- Serve on toasts or you can make a pull apart bread.
- Add the yeast, sugar to the water, mix well and let it bubble up for 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment or a Cuisinart, add the bread flour, melted shortening, salt and the yeast mixture. Let it mix in well for 2-3 minutes. If you feel the dough is too stiff, add some water, a tablespoon at a time. Let the mixture come together and take it out on a smooth surface and knead the dough to form a ball and put it in a large oiled bowl. Cover and Let it sit in a draft free place for 1-2 hours or until it is doubled in volume.
- Punch lightly and Roll the Bread Dough evenly. Spread some pumpkin butter and sprinkle some walnuts. Cut it lengthwise. Stack up the long strips, and cut it to equal portions and line in a baking pan. Leave it to rise for another 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, tent it with some aluminium wrap.
- Take it out of the oven and turn the pan on a cooling rack. Then remove and serve.
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Asha, happy Ayudha Pooja! I loved reading about your household customs leading up to it – that must have been a lot of work for a 10 yr old – but I wouldn’t have minded either seeing I had 3 days off from schoolwork 🙂 !
Now to this lovely cardamom infused pumpkin butter – it sounds heavenly – and that bread you made with it must have been blissful to sink your teeth into. Fantastic recipe – thanks so much for sharing. xx
Wow, this looks so delicious, Asha! I enjoyed learning about your culture and the “Thanksgiving” festival you celebrate each year. I wish our Thanksgiving was three days long! I’m sure the time off of school was nice too. 😉 I really love how you used fresh squash for this butter. I wonder if I can make a gluten-free version of this bread. If anything, I’ll try with the bread flour. These photos are so beautiful and having me craving this bread now! I may need to make a special trip to the grocery store today 🙂
Lovely post and enjoyed reading about your childhood memories 🙂
Pumpkin butter and the pull apart bread look amazing. I was wondering if I can use a pumpkin instead of squash in the recipe. Tks.
Ooh that looks so tempting Ash! Those lovely colourful layers. What interesting household customs too! I’ve never heard of a festival honouring household items before. I love learning new things 😀
looks so delicious Asha, love the touch of cardamom and that pull apart bread – I’m dying lol!
Me and my pumpkin fetish! I love everything about Pumpkin and guess what! My one year old is also loving pumpkin curry for lunch 🙂
This is a glamorous bread recipe and what made it irresistible for me is: you’ve used Pumpkin here!
Thanks a million for showing me another delicious, beautiful use of Pumpkin.
Hugs.
I am a huge fan of pumpkins and any winter squashes. The pull apart bread looks glorious, Asha.
That flat out looks delicious. Cardomom is such a lovely flavor … and that bread. Pinned.
I’ve wondered the same thing about apple butter. Pumpkin butter makes me smile because I now know that the knife that spreads it is honorific this time of year. GREG
WOW. This looks amazing Ash! LOVE the addition of cardamom in this one! Thank you for sharing your precious memories and educating us about your wonderful traditions and culture! It’s always a pleasure reading your new posts!:)
Lots of hugs,
Panos and Mirella
I’ve never made pull apart bread and really need to change that! I love that you filled this pumpkin butter, and the cardamom spice sounds so perfect here. Beautiful bread!
Ayudha Pooja sounds like my kind of holiday –I’m always up for 3 days off! Anyway, this looks wonderful — pumpkin butter? Never had it. But I will. 😉 Love the cardamon in it — such nice flavor.
Your picture really make me want to dig into this gooey mess! GREG
Asha, I love this memory of your childhood. This pumpkin butter sounds amazing and seeing that beautiful bread you do…its got to be a knockout combination. My only question is, how does someone do just one piece? I would want to eat the whole loaf. 🙂 Beautiful story.
I was JUST thinking about putting cardamom in pumpkin butter earlier today! Must be the Diwali spirit 🙂
Oh hey hey, great minds. Definitely Diwali spirit. Cardamom makes everything better. Thanks a lot for stopping by my dear.xx
It looks so decadent, especially because it’s made with ghee. Totally gives me a hankering for fall dishes.
xx Yasmin
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No wonder you have such strong memories of ‘Ayudha Pooja’… you had to clean and clean and clean!! No fun for a kid for sure. But then the three days of no study…. awwwh, a relief! And no doubt, a holiday that’s better appreciated as an adult. Oh Asha! I adore this recipe… the pumpkin butter, yes (especially the cardamom)… but it’s the pull apart bread that has won me over. It’s just gorgeous and so flavorful! Thank you for this my dear! I hope your holiday has been glorious (with not as much cleaning!). 😀