You might also like these recipes for traditional south Indian sambar, onion sambar and bitter gourd pitlai. When you’re been married to a Tamilian as long as I have, everyone pretty much considers you an honorary member of the club. But when it comes to my in-laws, nothing wins me more Tamil points than cooking up for them a fabulous south Indian meal with rice, sambar, rasam and a curry like this green beans paruppu usili. Tamilians love their food. And by that I mean they love their food. After years of living outside Tamil Nadu, Desi claims he can barely speak Tamil without stumbling mid-sentence (although he sounds just fine to me!). But, I can assure you, his Tamil tastebuds are quite intact. When I put a plate of true blue south Indian food in front of him, I can tell he’s doing cartwheels in his head. One popular Tamil ingredient Desi loves– and one he never fails to point me to when we go shopping at the Indian grocery store– is white pumpkin, or poosanikkai. White pumpkin is used in many Tamil recipes, and one of them is this poosanikkai sambar. White pumpkin has, as the name suggests, stark white flesh and a brilliant green skin that’s inedible– just like your regular orange pumpkin. The flesh is rather bland and takes on the flavor of the masalas you add to your dish. What’s more, it melts in the mouth, making it a perfect addition to sambar. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
Serve the White Pumpkin Sambar with dosa or idli or with rice for a classic south Indian meal.
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