Erisseri

Erissery is a Keralite dish. I love this dish because of its roasted coconut taste. My mother used to cook erissery with pumpkin, elephant foot yam ( Chena) and Red Chori( vanpayar.) Though there is many variations out there, I cooked it the same way.

Ingredients

Red chori (vanpayar)- 1/2 cup
pumpkin - 2 lbs
Elephant foot yam (chena) - 1 lbs
Coconut grated - 3 cup
Shallots - 5
turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
pepper powder 1 tsp
chilly powder 2 tsp
coconut oil - 1 Tbs
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Dry red chilly - 2-3
salt as required

How I made it

Wash and soak the red chori overnight or for at least 6-8 hours.
Cook it in a pressure cooker on high flame for 1 whistle and then turn down to low flame and cook for 5 more minutes and turn off the stove.  It should be soft and hold its shape. There shouldn't be much water left. If there is, use it to grind coconut or to cook pumpkin.

Remove the skin and cut the pumpkin and suran into small cubes.
(I used frozen suran)

Cook pumpkin and yam pieces together in a pressure cooker or in a pot with the turmeric, pepper and chilly powder and salt till soft with 1/2 cup of water( use more water if cooking in a regular pot)Mash it well with a spoon.

Grind 1.5 cup of coconut coarsely with cumin powder and shallots.
Add this mixture along with the cooked red chori to the pumpkin and yam mixture till it boil and turn off stove.

Heat up oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, and then add dry red chilly, curry leaves and the rest of the coconut and fry it on low flame till coconut turns brown.

Add the fried coconut to the erisseri and mix well. The consistency should neither be too dry nor with lots of gravy, but a thick wet mixture of mashed pumpkin and yam.