I am no expert when it comes to Kerala cuisine. The food from God's own country is quite delectable but goes up a few notches to turn into something heavenly during the Onam celebrations. I was first introduced to it during my school days when my best friend's family celebrated Onam. And so, when I set out to recreate the magic of the 'Onam Sadya', I took a lot of help from the cookbooks, blogs and of course my lovely next door Aunty. There might have been a few omissions as she hardly speaks Hindi and her English is not very good either.
I would have loved to do the whole thing (24-28 dishes) as it is a visual treat to watch all those colors come alive on a verdant canvas (banana leaf). But since I have a kid who is a handful and there is no helping hand, I decided to make it into a series. Apart from the regular sambar, rasam, avial and thoran, there are lots of special recipes that are cooked especially during Onam. Today's recipes are Erissery (a delectable Pumpkin curry) and Kalan Kerala Curry ( raw banana cooked in yogurt ) .
Read on for the recipes -
Erissery
Preparation Time - 20-25 min
Ingredients -
To be continued......
I would have loved to do the whole thing (24-28 dishes) as it is a visual treat to watch all those colors come alive on a verdant canvas (banana leaf). But since I have a kid who is a handful and there is no helping hand, I decided to make it into a series. Apart from the regular sambar, rasam, avial and thoran, there are lots of special recipes that are cooked especially during Onam. Today's recipes are Erissery (a delectable Pumpkin curry) and Kalan Kerala Curry ( raw banana cooked in yogurt ) .
Read on for the recipes -
Erissery
Preparation Time - 20-25 min
Ingredients -
- 2 cups Pumpkin cubes
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 2 pinch jeera seeds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 green chili
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2-3 shallots (finely chopped)
- 1/3 mustard seeds
- 1 red chili
- 1/4 turmeric
- 2 tsp oil
- salt to taste
Cooking - Cook the pumpkin with salt and turmeric till the cubes soften. Mash the pieces with a spatula.
Grind the coconut with garlic, green chili, turmeric, pepper powder and jeera. Add to the wok and let it simmer for a few minutes.
Heat 2 tsp in a pan. Add the broken red chili and mustard seeds. Once they start spluttering, add the chopped shallots and curry leaves. Add about 1 tsp grated coconut. Fry till the onion and coconut turns brown.
Preparation Time - 20 mins
Ingredients -
- 2 cups Raw banana
- 2 1/2 cups yogurt
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1 green chili
- 1 pinch cumin seeds
- 2-3 shallots
- 1-2 dry red chili
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- a pinch of fenugreek
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp pepper powder
- salt to taste
Preparation - Mix the raw banana slices with salt and turmeric.
Grind the coconut, shallots, green chili and cumin seeds into a smooth paste with 2 tsp water.
Whisk the yogurt and mix in the coconut paste.
Cooking - Cook the banana slices with 2 cups water and the pepper powder. Let it turn soft.
Remove from the flame and stir in the yogurt-coconut paste. Mix thoroughly.
Return it to the stove and cook with constant cooking till it steam starts to rise.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add red chili, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add curry leaves. Pour it over the curry and mix in.
To be continued......