While kaddu, a smothered and roasted squash or gourd dish popular in Afghani cuisine, may be a new food to you, I promise you it’ll quickly become a signature staple of your dinner table. Think of this composed roasted squash as the ideal vegetable side for toddlers (and even infants): it’s got those velvety soft and smooth textures they live for–a yogurt sauce gilds the lily–but with a deep bassline of sweetness and warming spices to keep things interesting and appealing. You’ll know what I mean the second it passes through his/her lips–or your own.
(Given your likely unfamiliarity with the dish, some tasting and cooking notes are in order. Restaurant versions of this dish taste so good because sugar is integrated into both the cooking of the gourd and the sauce; I’ve gone with maple syrup instead, which you can skip altogether (or use an alternative, such as agave or coconut sugar). Either pumpkin or butternut squash will work great in the dish, though I would suggest the first time you make it to use pumpkin–it’s just a little sweeter than butternut squash. For simplicity’s sake, not to mention to save you a few minutes of your time, I’ve taken the liberty here of leveraging canned tomato sauce, rather than making the tomato sauce yourself; it would take little additional effort–though more minutes–to make your own, however: just heat a small can of crushed tomatoes with about half of a cup of no-salt chicken broth and plenty of ground turmeric, ginger, and garlic for roughly 10-15 minutes until thickened.)
Check out our other great pumpkin and vegetable dishes!
With its brilliant balance of sweet, creamy, and savory, this Afghani roasted squash is a perfect vegetable side dish for toddlers and grown-ups alike.
You can very easily modify this dish to fit both the textural and visual needs of your child. You can see in the pic for this recipe that you can serve the pumpkin/squash as a sort of one-bite canape, which is great for toddlers and/or the finger-food inclined. If your child is the bowl-of-sauce-topped-with-the-actual-dish type, serve patatas bravas style by putting the squash/pumpkin pieces in a bowl, then pouring the yogurt and tomato sauce on top; mix together until one saucy heap. For infants, you can also try a mash approach: simple pour squash/pumpkin and sauces in a bowl and mix and smash together until unified in creaminess.
You can add ground meat to the mix–do so by adding to the tomato sauce–to make it more of a main course rather than a side. If you are struggling to get your kid to eat it on its own, mash it or blend it to use as a condiment (in place of ketchup on a sandwich, say) or as a sauce for pasta or another grain. I’ll let you in on a little secret, too: basically any white sauce–ranch dressing, spinach and artichoke dip, tahini–can replace the yogurt and taste good.
Servings 6
Serving Size about six cubes of squash
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
If using pre-cut vegetables, toss them in the marinade (see Step #3) and roast them on a parchment-lined pan for 30 minutes, turning over halfway through cooking.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
