Wash, halve and core the pumpkin. Cut into large cubes. Peel the vegetable onion, cut in half and cut lengthways into strips.
Heat the oil in a pan. Peel the garlic clove and press it into the hot oil. Add the onion and pumpkin at the same time. Add the spice mixture and stir. Fry everything briefly and then deglaze with half to a full glass of water or vegetable stock. Then put the lid on the pan and stew the pumpkin until soft. Stir occasionally. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes for the pumpkin to have the right consistency. Remove the lid and let almost all of the liquid boil off. Then stir in the grainy cottage cheese and continue cooking over a low heat for about 3 minutes until the cream cheese has melted.
The pumpkin goulash tastes good with boiled potatoes or gnocchi.