Thursday, January 29, 2009

Erisseri (vegetable curry)

Erisseri belongs to Kerala. It is an yummy side dish served during all the feasts in kerala and south Tamil Nadu. The yam I am referring here is the 'Indian Yam' which is a root/ tuber otherwise called Elephant foot yam / suran (Hindi) / senai kilangu (Tamil).
It is not the same yam as we see in USA. Here they are calling a root similar to sweet potato as yam.
Yam is available in all seasons in India. Even a small grocery shop in Chennai will sell it. A matured yam will weigh nearly 4 kgs or more. So in India they cut and sell the yam . This vegetable will not rot for a month or two, if kept uncut.
We should be careful in cleaning a fresh yam , as it may cause itching to the hands. To avoid any itching, apply tamarind juice to your hands after cutting this vegetable.
We can buy frozen yam from the 'Indian stores' in USA . So we need not worry about this cleaning or itching , but surely we miss the fresh flavor.
Here is the recipe for Erisseri. Hope you all like it:)



Ingredients:
Yam - 150 gms
Raw banana - 1
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste
coconut oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
To grind:
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp

Method:

Cut the yam and banana into small cubes.
Cook it with 1 cup of water , turmeric powder and salt.
Grind the items given to a fine paste.
After the vegetables get cooked, slightly mash them with the ladle and add the masala paste.
Saute them in low flame till the curry becomes thicker.
Heat oil in a wok, splutter the mustard seeds .
Add curry leaves and 1 tbsp shredded coconut to the cracked mustard . Saute well till the coconut turns brown .
Mix it with the curry.
(Traditionally they add a tbsp of hot coconut oil after switching off the flame. )
Erissery is ready.

Serving suggestions:

It can be served as side dish with plain steamed rice, chapathi or sambar rice.
Note:
The consistency should be like a semi solid curry. The coconut masala should be more visible than the vegetables. People who do not like coconut can reduce it to 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup.

14 comments:

Varsha Vipins said...

erisseri is my favvv viki..was planning to cook this one lately..yummy..:)

Cham said...

I love erisseri somehow i don't like the frozen one! Looks tasty

Raks said...

I have never tasted before,sounds quite delicious!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

love kerala cuiisne.. this one looks very good.

Chitra said...

Erisseri is very easy to do...will try next time:)looks delicious:)

Premyscakes said...

It looks yummy viki.
cheers.

gtyuk said...

hi viki, got something for you.

Malar Gandhi said...

Never made Erisseri b'4...but enjoyed having it from my mallu classmate's tiffin box! Sounds much like senai kizhangu masiyal to me...

btn thanks for bumping into me blog and knew that an award is waiting for u. My server was too slow y'day...

Finla said...

I love errisery, mine was totally different, this looks yummy too.

Sujatha said...

I've heard a lot about this dish, but never tasted it.. And I don't get raw plantain that often here too.. :-( I will sure keep checking out for raw plantain to try this tasty dish! :)

sriharivatsan said...

Something new which i haven't tasted of..This looks really yummy!!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Varsha, cham, Rak, Mahi,chitra, Premy, Akal, Malar, Sri, Sujatha and Happy cook for your lovely comments.Thanks a lot my friends.

Divz said...

hi viki...
first time on ur blog...great job!!
keep writing...nice recipes too..
divz

Anonymous said...

Hi ..
First time here ..Nice blog ..Erisserry looks lovely ..One of my fav dish...

love
veena

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