And fear is all gone........ Eggless Pumpkin Pie

Finally I made The egg less Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving(after 4 years of will try next time) and the fear of eggless custard based pie is over and I’ve got the confidence that custard based pies can  be made eggless too. Also sharing a secret.....I was always doubtful until now that how pumpkin can taste good in dessert. So, was it good..... Of course it tasted good that's the reason I'm writing this post (though the picture didn't came out very good). Little help from the Internet and decided on using corn starch(corn flour) as egg substitute. Only problem the pie crimp(edges of the crust) came out little extra dark but the pie custard as well as crust tasted very good and did bring million dollar smile on my 8 yr. old face. Custard filling tasted very smooth & creamy and no taste of corn starch(that was my biggest fear it gonna taste chalky), crust was really flaky though I had reduced the butter as compared to original recipe. Now about the crimp, after thanksgiving was over I was looking at my local grocery shop ad page and I saw that they sell pie crust shield which covers the edges so that they don't over brown....oh !! so it looks like a common problem.

I used the recipe from Libby's can of pumpkin puree as a base and tweaked it a bit as I wanted eggless pie and also there were few things in the fridge which needed to be taken care of ASAP. So here's my version for 9 inch pie....

What U need :
For Crust :I used the Pate Brisee(short crust pastry) recipe from Joy of Baking but changed the amount of fat used in it.

• 1 & 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled & cut into samll cubes
• 2 tablespoon vegetable shortening ( I used it cold cut into 5-6 pieces)
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice cold water

For Custard :

• 1 can(15 oz.) pumpkin puree(next time I'm sure I'm gonna make fresh puree)
• roughly 2/3 of a can condensed milk (it must have been 8-9 oz. as full can was of 14 0z.)
• 1 small can(5 oz.) evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoon ricotta cheese
• 4 tablespoon corn flour(corn starch)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder(i used sund from my spice rack)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. all spice powder(can be easily substituted with clove powder)

Note : 1. I'm not using any sugar as I'm using sweet condensed milk.

2. If only evaporated milk is used U need to add sugar.
3. If only condensed milk is used I guess quantity of corn starch can be reduced by a tablespoon or so.

What U do:
For Crust :

1. Using a food processor mix flour salt and sugar for few seconds.
2. Add butter and shortening, process it using pulse setting for around 15 seconds. Mixture will look like coarse meal.
3. Add water to this mixture while the processor is running. U might not have to use all the water, start with small quantity & add only a tablespoon at a time till the dough comes together, it will be still crumbly kind & not smooth but that is the perfect dough for pie. This process should not take more than 30-40 seconds.
4. Take out the dough mixture on the work surface & gather it into round ball & flatten it a bit into disk and cover it tightly with plastic wrap & let it chill in the fridge for around an hour. I kept it overnight. Important : while working with pie dough try to handle it as less as possible because body heat from hands can melt the butter which can lead to hard crust instead of flaky crust.

For Custard :

1. Mix corn flour with evaporated milk, making sure there are no lumps. Keep it aside.
2. Mix Pumpkin puree & ricotta cheese. Use food processor if cheese is not mixing smoothly. I did not used any, there were few white specs of  chesse bits in pie but taste wise it was smooth and final output was creamy.
3. Mix corn flour mixture from step 1 with pumpkin puree mixture from step 2, mix in all the spices using a whisk and the custard is ready to be poured into the pie shell. At this point if U want it can be refrigerated also.

For Assembling & Baking Pie :

1. Once U are ready to assemble the pie, take chilled dough out & sprinkle some flour on the work surface.
2. Roll the dough into 13 inch circle( please check the original recipe for details about rolling the pie dough) and transfer it to pie pan.
3. Make some pattern on the edges or trim them....your choice. I did made some leaves with x'tra dough & attached them using little water but as I mentioned over browning of edges` was the only problem with my pie so I actually trimmed the edges before serving.
4. Cover it with plastic wrap & chill it for around half an hour. And while U put the pie crust in the fridge to chill take out the custard from the fridge if U prepared it ahead of time,using whisk mix it thoroughly to make sure that ingredients are not settled down.
5. When ready to bake preheat oven to 425 degree take the pie crust out & pour the custard into it.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in 425 degree oven & then turn down the temperature to 350 degree bake for another 40-45 minutes.
7. To check the doneness, knife inserted about 1 inch from the side of the pan should come out clean, center will still look wet, but in my case I baked it for total of 60 minutes(15 at 425 degree + 45 at 350 degree) and centre was also set properly. I'm not sure how it works for pie with eggs or for that matter eggless also as this was my first trial of any custard based pie. cool it on wire rack. Serve it as is or with some freshly whipped cream.

Useful Tip : I prepared the custard & pie dough a night before thanksgiving, assemble and baked the pie next day, saved me time on busy thanksgiving day. To store the custard keep it in the airtight container inside the fridge. For storing the dough, wrap the dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate it.

Sending this creamy custard & flaky crust pie to Champa's weekly bake-off and also to Suma of Cakes and More who's hosting a giveaway of  "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum for her first blog anniversary celebration, Happy Blog Anniversary Suma. And if U like to bake I'm sure these are the blogs worth visiting.

Pumpkin with Spinach

After looking at today's post title those who don't like lauki(bottlegourd), kaddu(pumpkin) kind of vegetables, the vegetables which belong to squash family must be thinking of skipping reading this post. Two days in a row I'm posting veggies from the squash family but let me say one thing, pumpkin is something if you cook it with right spices it can be finger licking good. Like lauki pumpkin is also used for making dessert called kaddu ka halwa but as I said in my last post in my house these vegetables are strictly for savory dishes only. Today's recipe can be made without spinach, that's what I usually use to make but now with the command from His Highness regarding eating spinach everyday, I'm incorporating spinach in many dishes which I never thought will taste good with the addition of any other thing in it, but reality is we all liked it and they taste equally good or sometime even better.

Now before we move to the recipe, let me warn U that there is a long list of whole spices which go into this and which result into really flavorful dish, not ordinary kaddu but flavorful one. To assure it's taste I would like to share this :

Scene from the grocery store, we(me + he) both are doing grocery together:

Me : does this pumpkin look good ?

He : why ? U want to buy pumpkin.....I'm not gonna eat this.

Me : (in my mind) we'll see....anyways I pick one

Scene from the day when pumpkin is the main dish on the dinner table :

Me : khana tyar hai(dinner is ready)

He : helps me set the table, (and here he goes ) U made that kaddu(

Me : yeap, for everybody (he thinks I'm gonna cook something specially for me only, sometimes when he goes for groceries he even buys pumpkin for me, saying that U like it so U make it for yourself...ha..haa)

Scene while having dinner :

He : subzi bari swad bani hai(Veggie is very tasty today...)

Me : yeah....

He : Is there any more???

Me : don't finish all, leave some for me.... I'm serious....

Result : Veggie bowl is finger lick clean....end of the story, no leftovers for tomorrow. If anyone interested about what happens in my house when I make kaddu(pumpkin) in any other form please click here.

What U need :

• 
  around 2 cup of cleaned regular pumpkin, diced into small cubes
• around 2 cups of cleaned, washed, chopped spinach
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 2 large tomatoes finely chopped
• 3-4 green hot peppers chopped
• 2 tsp. chopped garlic
• 2 tsp. chopped ginger
• 2 whole dry red chillis
• 2 black cardamons (moti ilaichi)
• 3-4 green cardamons (chotti ilaichi)
• 1 tsp. whole black peppers
• around 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
• 1 tsp. fennel (moti saunf) seeds
• 1/2 tsp. onion seeds (kalonji)
• 1 tsp. black mustard (rai) seeds
• salt
• 1 tsp. degi mirch powder( if not available use paprika)
• 1 tsp. coriander (dhania) powder
• 1 tsp turmeric (haldi)
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 3 Tblsp. of cooking oil (looks a lot but U need at least this much, if O.k with your diet plan can use even little bit more)

What U Do : 

1. Heat cooking oil in a heavy bottom pan on med. heat, add all the whole spices when aroma starts to come add garlic. After a minute or so add Onions.
2. Once the onions are translucent add ginger & pumpkin cubes. Saute them for 7-8 minutes. Pumpkin will be kind of all glazed & shiny.
3. Add tomatoes, green peppers & all dry spices.
4. Now if U r not using spinach let it cook till the point when pumpkin is cooked but still holding it's shape. DON'T OVERCOOK IT otherwise pumpkin will get all mushy. Whenever it's getting too dry add couple of spoons of water at a time.

      5. If you are planning to use spinach than add spinach and follow the instructions as per #4.

      6. Serve it warm with freshly made roti.

Note : Pumpkin is a vegetable which is sweet in taste, so we like it quite spicy, this kind of preparation gives it sweet & hot taste. Bite into the pumpkin and you feel the sweetness of it and the moment gravy mixture touches your taste buds you get that kick from the hot side of it, wanting you to eat more and more of it. 

Please adjust the level of heat according to your by adjusting the use of dry whole red peppers, green hot peppers & garam masala. As for other spices I'll really suggest to use them to get that aromatic hot & sweet flavor.

As this dish contains fenugreek seeds in it I'm sending it to one of my favorite blogger SE of  Denufood who's  hosting her first blog event "Cooking with Seeds : fenugreek" brainchild of Priya.