Part 88 (1/2)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoons garam masala

teaspoon ground cinnamon

teaspoon salt

teaspoon cayenne

1 cup water

1-inch cube fresh ginger, peeled

10 ounces fresh spinach (this is about 2 bunches), washed well and chopped coa.r.s.ely

Juice of lime

PREHEAT THE oven to 350 F.

First, bake the pumpkin: Carve out the top of the pumpkin to remove the stem. Use your strongest knife to cut the pumpkin in half along the vertical. Remove the seeds (reserve them to toast sometime) and sc.r.a.pe out the stringy stuff with a spoon. Place the pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a fork can easily pierce the flesh.

Let the pumpkin cool completely. Peel away the skin and then chop the pumpkin up into 1-inch chunks.

Preheat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions in the peanut oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until everything is honey brown.

Add the pumpkin and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add the spices and salt, and grate the ginger directly into the pot (use a microplane grater, if possible). Add the water and cook for about 5 minutes, mixing often. Use your mixing spatula to mush the pumpkin up a bit, but leave some pieces chunky.

Add the spinach in batches (three or four should do it), mixing well after each addition.

Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring often. Add the lime; taste and adjust the salt.

This is best if it's had time to sit for a while, but if you want to eat it immediately, we understand.

VEGETABLES OR SEITAN SIMMERED IN MOLE SAUCE.

Who doesn't want chocolate for dinner? Presenting two variations on the same concept; tender vegetables or chewy seitan is slowly simmered in homemade chocolate mole sauce. Change the vegetables to suit the season, if you please. Serve with a starchy side such as Mexican Millet (page 118), plain steamed brown rice, cooked quinoa, or soft, warmed corn tortillas to sop up lots of the luscious sauce.

SWEET SQUASH IN MOLE SAUCE.

SERVES 4 TO 6.

TIME: 50 MINUTES, NOT INCLUDING PREPARING MOLE SAUCE.

This is a delectable stew of sublime mole sauce and a fresh tasting blend of summer squash and tropical calabaza pumpkin. Calabaza can be found in most any grocery that carries Latino groceries; it's usually conveniently precut into manageable-size chunks and can be easily peeled with a vegetable peeler. We love it so because it's the pumpkin that's commonly available year round (note our pumpkin fetish). Sugar pumpkin or b.u.t.ternut squash in season can be subst.i.tuted instead.