Butternut Squash Erissery

The one thing I am thankful for is that my family is not very particular of having just the Indian veggies for our meals. We do cook any other veggie available, the Indian way and love them. Butternut squash is just one of them. When made erissery out of them, they are just perfect to even serve it for sadya. Since Vishu is almost around the corner, I thought I should be publishing this post for you guys to try for Vishu Sadya.

If you happen to be living in a place where butternut squash is available everywhere, but pumpkins are rarely seen, other than during thanksgiving, then this is one thing you should try, to relish on something similar to what your taste buds have been used to. Here's how to make it.

Ingredients

1. 3 cups of Butternut Squash, cut into cubes
2. 3/4 cup of red cow peas/ Vanpayar
3. 1/3 cups of grated coconut
4. 1 tsp of Jeera/Cumin seeds
5. 2-3 green chilles
6. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
7. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. 1 sprig of curry leaves
2. 3 shallots sliced
3. 2-3 red chilly
4. 2 tbsp of grated coconut
5. 3 tbsp of oil, preferably coconut oil

Method

• Wash and soak the red cow peas/ Vanpayar for about 2 hours. Cook the red cow peas/ Vanpayar in pressure cooker untill soft. Make sure you do not overcook it and make it mushy. It should retain its shape. it usually takes me about 1 whistle on high heat and 2 whistles on medium heat.  
• In a grinder, grind the ingredients 3-6 to form a paste. 
• In a pan, add the butternut squash pieces, salt and water just enough to cover the squash. Cook it on medium heat, untill the squash gets cooked. Mash it well.
• Add the cooked red cow peas/ Vanpayar and the ground paste to the cooked and mashed squash. Adjust the salt and water. Continue to cook it for 5 minutes.
• Turn of the heat. 
• In a wok, heat up 2 tbsp of oil. Once hot, add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and red chilly. Let it fry. Pour it on top of the cooked pumpkin. Now heat up the remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Fry the 2 tbsp of grated coconut in it. Use it to garnish the cooked squash. 

Tips

1. Do not add too much water to the curry else it might turn too runny. The curry should be thick. If you see that your curry is a little runny, add a tbsp of rice flour and bring it to a boil. It will help thicken the curry.
2. If the squash you use is not that ripe enough, adding a tbsp of sugar to the curry would give it the taste of a ripen pumpkin.
3. You could pressure cook the squash instead of cooking it in the pan. For me, it takes, 1 whistle on high heat followed by another whistle on low heat.