When my sister told me that she made parangikkai (Yellow pumpkin) thogayal that my aunt told her, I was skeptical about it. I did not pay much attention to it and dismissed the idea. But a couple of days later, when I had run out of grocery and all I had was a small butternut squash, I started wondering maybe I should try a thogayal with it.
If you have been following my blog, you will know that I talk a lot about my aunt’s cooking. This is one of her recipes and it is genius!! She makes this with yellow pumpkin, but I used butternut squash instead and it was just amazing. Now if you think you can’t make a chutney or thogayal out of butternut squash or pumpkin, try this recipe. You will not be disappointed.
Thogayal or thuvaiyal is a south Indian ( tamil ) term meaning a chutney. But this is thicker and more textured than a chutney. Simply to say, you don’t grind it smooth so it tastes great with rice.
If you grind this butternut squash thogayal recipe to a smooth consistency, you will have the most amazing chutney that tastes great as a side with idlis and dosas. We had it with rotis too!
Thogayal’s or thuvaiyal are generally eaten with rice. You can mix it with hot plain rice, add a drop of gingelly oil/ghee and it tastes heavenly. You can also eat it as a side with rasam sadham, sambar sadham etc..
I like to use butternut squash in soups, pastas, sambars and even eat them roasted. But most of the times I get a lot of grumbles from my daughter that she doesn’t want to eat it. The only way I can get her to have it is if it is blended in a soup or as a pasta sauce.
My daughter loves her idlis and dosa. While she might not eat it mixed with rice, I ground some of this thogayal smooth for her and she relished it with dosa that night. Now isn’t that a good enough reason to make this often?
This butternut squash thogayal is
Butternutsquash – The butternut squash can be substituted with yellow pumpkin, zucchini, yellow suqash, coconut, chayote squash
Coconut – While it might slightly change the flavour of the thogayal, you can totally do this recipe without coconut too. Grated coconut can be substituted with frozen grated coconut, frozen coconut flakes.
Urad dal and chana dal – These lentils not only give the recipe a dish a nice flavor, but they also give the dish some texture and body. I would recommend not skipping these. but if you have got to substitute it with something else, try moong dal, toor dal or red lentils / masoor dal.
Green chillies – Use dried red chillies instead.
Dried Tamarind – Can be substituted with a tsp of tamarind paste
Hing – Cant think of a substitute. You could just leave it. Maybe add a small piece of garlic for extra flavor.
Items mentioned in tempering – You can skip tempering the dish if you wish. My aunt’s recipe does not call for tempering.
If you like this butternut squash chutney / thogayal recipe then you might like my other chutney and butternut squash recipes like –
Let’s see how to do this recipe –
This south Indian style chutney recipe made with butternut squash and lentils is great as a side with rice
Add 1/2 tsp oil and when it becomes hot, add the urad dal, chana dal, tamarind, green chillies asafoetida and roast until the lentils turn golden brown and set aside. Don't turn them dark brown/ black. You can roast them individually if you wish.
Next add the remaning 1 tsp oil and add the cubed butternut squash. Add salt needed for the veggie and saute it until it becomes tender.
Now add the cooked butternut squash, coconut, roasted lentilsm chillies, tamarind, and grind it to a somewhat smooth consistency for a thogayal or grind it smoothly for a chutney.
Prepare the tempering by heating the oil. When it becomes hot, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chilly. Let the mustard seeds pop. Add it to the chutney and mix.
Serve the thogayal / chutney with rice/ idli/ dosa.
Switch on the saute mode in your instant pot. When it becomes hot, add Add 1/2 tsp oil. Add the urad dal, chana dal, tamarind, green chillies, asafoetida and roast until the lentils turn golden brown and set aside. Don't turn them dark brown/ black. You can roast them individually if you wish.
Switch off the sauet mode.
Next add the remaning 1 tsp oil and add the cubed butternut squash and salt. Add 1/4 cup water and cook on manual pressure coom mode for 2 minutes. Release pressure immediately.
(Alternatively, you can saute the butternut squash in the instant pot until it becomes tender.)
Now grind all the ingredients together to a somewhat coarse paste. You can grind it smoothly if you want to use this as a chutney.
Prepare the tempering by heating the oil. When it becomes hot, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chilly. Let the mustard seeds pop. Add it to the chutney and mix.
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Made this .. and loved it ... It's a keeper... Thanks a lot
Oh so happy you enjoyed the recipe :)