Pumpkin Erisseri

"you can't judge a book by its cover"

-An Old Adage 

I am just getting accustomed to palakkad cuisine, thanks to Avi, who is also my sous chef @ relishing recipe's kitchen. During a trip to farmer's market, we saw a huge collection of pumpkins of all sizes (as Halloween was nearing). I thought the boring looking pumpkins are used either to make halwa or kootu and I am fond of neither of the options. I didn't bother to take another look at them. Avi asked me if I could make Erisseri (stressing-"my mom always makes it"). I told him I didn't even know how it looked, forget making it. He badgered me enough and we ended up buying a pumpkin. Next day he offered to cook. I gladly nodded and acquiesced to his request. Who doesn't love to be fed? I miss those days where in my mom and aunts used to take turns to feed me (I was a fussy and picky eater throughout my childhood and would take an hour to finish a meal). It is so boring to eat food cooked by one's self. Thus, I wholeheartedly gave my assent. Well, the first look at the erisseri made me say, "Hey! this is like pumpkin sambar!".

When I tasted the erisseri mixed with rice and ghee, I realized It was nothing like the boring sambar (I am not a sambar lover, but an ardent fan of rasam). Yummmmm. When the food is soul quenching, you don't engage in anything else but devouring the food in silence. Indulging yourself in every morsel that goes into your mouth. Well, you may call it sub-set of sambar as erisseri is a reminiscent of sambar as far as the way the two look goes, but their tastes are far asunder.

Chef:-Avinash Kashyap
Ingredients:-
1 cup of toor dal/red gram . Wash and clean.
1/2 cup of pumpkin diced.
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
salt to taste

To grind:-
1/2 cup of coconut
1 tbl spn jeera
2-3 dry red chillies

To temper:-
1 tsp of mustard seeds
2-3 curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal/skinned black gram
2 tsp coconut grating

Method:-
Pressure cook/cook the dal and pumpkin up to 2-3 whistles with turmeric powder. The dal should be well cooked and mashed. pumpkin should be soft. You may cook them separately also.
Meanwhile grind the ingredients to a thick fine paste.
In a pan, add the cooked pumpkin, dal and at least 1 1/2 cups of water (there shd be 1 cup of water in the dal. If it is completely dry, add 2 1/2 cups of water).
Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt. Let the mixture come to a boil. Add the ground paste and let the mixture cook for 2-3 minutes.
Temper the ingredients in oil (make sure the coconut is fried till golden brown) and add it in the pan. Take the erisseri off the heat.
Serve with rice and a dollop of ghee.