Perhaps the best Afghani restaurant I have ever been to is Helmand’s in Cambridge, MA. There, my husband and I tried Kaddo, an appetizer described as pan-fried baked baby pumpkin seasoned with sugar and served on yogurt garlic sauce, topped with a ground beef sauce.

This recipe was inspired from that appetizer, but instead of pan frying, the pumpkin is just baked in the oven until caramelized and tender. Dried mint and garlic flavor the yogurt sauce. A tomatoey seasoned meat sauce compliments the tangy yogurt and pumpkin sweetness beautifully. Feel free to leave the ground beef out if you prefer a vegetarian recipe.

Kaddo

Name: Kaddo
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: for the pumpkin:; 1 sugar pie pumpkin, about 3 pounds; 3 tablespoons oil; 1 cup sugar; for the yogurt sauce:; 1 cup plain yogurt; 1 garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 teaspoon dried mint; 1/2 teaspoon salt; for the meat sauce:; 1/4 cup oil; 1/2 onion, finely diced; 3/4 lbs ground beef; 1 medium tomato, seeded and finely chopped; 1 large garlic clove, minced; 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 3/4 cup water

by Julie Awad

Serves 4

PREP

15 mins

BAKE

1 hr

TOTAL

1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

for the pumpkin

1 sugar pie pumpkin, about 3 pounds

3 tablespoons oil

1 cup sugar

for the yogurt sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

1 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon dried mint

½ teaspoon salt

for the meat sauce

¼ cup oil

½ onion, finely diced

¾ lbs ground beef

1 medium tomato, seeded and finely chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

¾ teaspoon ground coriander

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon tomato paste

¾ cup water

Method

Preheat your oven to 300ºF.

prepare the pumpkin

Wipe the outside of the pie pumpkin clean. With a sharp knife, cut the top (stem) and bottom off. Slice the pumpkin in half from top to bottom and scrape the stringy bits and seeds out with a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works well for this). Cut the halves into 3-4 pieces and then peel them. Place the pumpkin in a baking pan large enough to hold all the pieces in a single layer.

Brush the pumpkin pieces with the oil and place them hollow side up in the pan. Spoon the sugar evenly over the pumpkin pieces and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Place pumpkin in the oven and bake for 1 hour. After an hour, check to see if the sugar has been absorbed and the pumpkin is fork tender. Continue baking if the pumpkin needs a little more time, otherwise remove from the oven and set aside.

the yogurt sauce

While the pumpkin is baking, mix all the yogurt sauce ingredients together. Refrigerate.

the meat sauce

In a large saucepan, brown the onions in the oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat, stir until browned. Add all the other ingredients except for the tomato paste and water, stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the water, bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered, for about 15 minutes.

to Serve

Swirl a spoonful of yogurt on a plate and place a slice of hot pumpkin on top. Next, spoon the meat sauce over the pumpkin and serve immediately.