I love making sabzis with leaves. In Belgaum we get many types of leaves from the vegetable vendors. But I have not seen pumpkin leaves with them so far. When we got a pumpkin plant in our backyard, my maid told me that she cooks them at home. So I took instructions from her and prepared it. It is crunchy and has a very different flavour, which I liked.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of very finely cut pumpkin leaves after removing the veins
• ½ cup grated coconut
• 5 flakes of garlic finely cut
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp raw rice
• 2 dried red chillies broken to pieces
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

Instruction:

• The leaves have to be cut really fine for this preparation as they are fibrous.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds and the raw rice. When the rice puffs up, add broken red chillies, turmeric powder and the cut leaves.
• Add salt, stir for a few seconds, reduce the flame and cover the pan. Keep stirring in between; usually no additional water is required.
• When the leaves are almost cooked (takes about six minutes), add the grated coconut and finely cut garlic.
• Stir well, let it cook for two more minutes, remove from fire. Serve with steamed rice and dal or kadhi.