What you need:
– ca 400 g pumpkin or 300g pumpkin puree
– ca 500g four
– ca 15 g of yeast
– teaspoon of sugar
– a pinch of salt
– a tablespoon of oil
How to make:
If you start with a fresh pumpkin, either steam it for a bit or put it into an oven for an hour to make the flesh of the pumpkin soft enough to mash it with a fork. Mix yeast and sugar until liquid forms. If you use dried yeast, activate it beforehand. Into the mixture put the lukewarm pumpkin puree and mix. Add the flour and knead ca 10 minutes until the dough comes together enough to resemble a pizza dough. The amount of flour depends on the juiciness of the pumpkin you use, so add more flour if needed. Let the dough rest in a warm place for half an hour until it has at least almost doubled in size.
If you have a wok and a bamboo steamer, good for you: pour enough water into the wok to put the steamer onto it without touching the water. Bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile, take bits of dough and roll them into small balls and put them into the steamer onto bits of baking paper. Since they will double their size once the steam starts to hit them, leave enough room between the small dough balls. Let them rise for 10-20 minutes or as long as the water starts to boil, then put the steamer in, cover it with the lid and let it steam between 10- 15 minutes, depending on how large balls you made. These in the photo took around 12 minutes. Take them out and enjoy!
If you don’t have a wok, no problem: use a large pot, put a metal tray with legs inside and then use a larger, flatter sieve on top of it instead of a steamer. This you can cover with a lid.
The good thing with these buns is that you can customize them as much as you like. Want something sweeter? Add sugar, cinnamon etc more liberally into the dough. In case you have even more pumpkin left, just fill the bun with spiced pumpkin puree. Or cottage cheese mixed with eggs and sweet spices. Apples. Jam. Honey-sweetened berries. Need something savory? Make a quick filling with minced meat, garlic and soy sauce. Butter-fried onions mixed with saffron – an old Estonian classic. Or spinach. Marinated shredded chicken. Mushrooms. Curry-flavored mashed potatoes. Spicy lentil or split pea puree. The varieties are endless here.
Hate pumpkins? Just leave it out and use milk or water instead to bring the dough together.
How much does it cost:
It is November now, so you will still have tons of pumpkin left from this year’s harvest. Flour is not more than 50 cents, add a bit for the oil and electricity and you will have around 30 buns for no more than 1 euro.