Kerala Onam Special: Pumpkin Erissery

My kids love this tasty pumpkin recipe. Its easy to make, so I cook it at least once a week. Erissery is one of the popular dishes of Kerala onam sadya. Errissery is also made with yam, raw plantains and vanpayar or red beans. You can also try out this recipe using raw papayas. I prefer to keep it simple with just pumpkin and coconut.

Try serving pumpkin erissery with rice, red fish curry, achinga payar sauté, beetroot thoran and of course, a crisply fried kerala papadam.

Ingredients:

1.       Pumpkin – 2 cups, chopped

2.      Turmeric – ½ tsp

3.      Salt – to taste

4.      Water – 1½ cups

Cook the chopped cubes of pumpkin adding salt, turmeric and adequate water. Mash it up.

5.       Coconut – ½ cup

6.      Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

7.       Green chilies - 2

8.      Turmeric- ¼ tsp

Grind together coconut, cumin seeds, turmeric and green chillies to a smooth paste adding water. Add this to the cooked pumpkin.

9.      Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

10.   Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

11.    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

12.   Shallots – 3, sliced

13.   Dry red chillies - 2

14.   Grated coconut – 3 tbsp

Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds and then curry leaves, shallots and dry red chillies. Pour this over the pumpkin curry. Add grated coconut to the same pan and sauté till it turns golden brown. Use this to garnish the dish.

Secret Grandma tips:

• The fried coconut in the last step is vital to the authentic taste of the recipe. It is the signature of the erissery.
• Watch the water content, the dish has to have very thick gravy.
• To make pumpkin erissery with red beans or vanpayar, simply add well cooked red beans along with the coconut paste in step 2.