Yummy Pumpkin Erissery : Kerala Onam Special Recipe

Try out this delicious recipe for pumpkin and cowpeas erissery. Pumpkin is one vegetable my children eat happily. Most days, I don't bother adding the cow peas, I just make simple pumpkin erissery. I sometimes add cooked dal to make it more healthy and tasty. One of the healthy lunches for my children is rice with pumpkin and parippu curry, butter or ghee, fried fish and beetroot thoran.  They eat happily without any fuss.  I have to sneak in the thoran though. They will eat any thoran, provided I’ve chopped it as tiny as possible.

You can try out my other erissery recipes too. My family really like pappaya erissery while banana and yam erissery is the standard onam erissery.

Ingredients:

1.       Red Cow Peas/ Vanpayar – 1 cup

Soak the vanpayar in water for 3-4 hours. Pressure cook it with some salt and water. Keep aside.

2.       Pumpkin, - 1 cup, chopped

3.       Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

4.       Salt – to taste

5.       Water- for cooking

Cook the pumpkin with turmeric and salt adding adequate water. Mash it up well.

6.       Grated coconut – 1 cup

7.       Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

8.       Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

9.       Green chillies – 2-3

Grind coconut with other ingredients, adding a little water, till fine and smooth. Add this to the cooked pumpkin along with the well cooked cow peas. Cook for five minutes. Add a little water, if desired, to adjust the consistency.

10.   Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

11.   Mustard seeds – ½  tsp

12.   Shallots – 3, sliced

13.   Dry red chillies -2

14.   Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Heat the oil in a small kadai. Add the mustard seeds, when they splutter, add remaining ingredients and sauté till the onion are golden brown. Pour this over the curry.

15.   Grated coconut – 2 tbsp

Roast the grated coconut in the same kadai till light brown. Toss this over the pumpkin erissery. Tasty and delicious pumpkin erissery is ready to be served with hot rice.

Secret Grandma Tips:

• The signature of the erissery is the roasted coconut garnishing, so never skip that.
• Prepare the erissery using coconut oil, if you want the authentic Kerala taste.
• The consistency of the dish should be reasonably thick. [Not flowing]
• Be careful not to burn the mustard seeds or shallots in the tempering oil.
• Red chilly powder may be substituted for green chillies and this will give the dish a more orangish color for those who prefer it that way.