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.

Kaplanga Pulissery

Pulissery or Moru curry is a must for Sadya. I am not a big fan of sambar but Pulissery and Parippu curry are my favorites to pair with rice. Being married to a sambar lover, we do keep rotating all possible gravy options for our meals, so that both of us get to have their favorites.

Pulissery has different versions. Some just have the seasoned buttermilk, which is usually called Moru kachiyathu at our place and others have veggies like cucumber or papaya or okra etc. that is added along with coconut to the seasoned buttermilk and that is termed as Pulissery. Having those veggies soaked in buttermilk, to bite on is a special treat. It just pairs so well with rice.

Olan

Olan is one thing that we make only for onam. So, I say it is as one onam sadya special dish. However, there is no such restriction that you should make it only for onam. Having it with some hot and steaming rice on any other day is equally mind blowing. 

Here is the recipe for our onam sadya special olan. 

Manga Chammanthi / Mango Chutney

For me, some Moru kachiyathu and manga chammanthi is enough to have stomach full of rice. I wouldn't even bother any other curry not served with rice. It is just perfect to tickle the tastebuds that you would never even feel the absence of any other curry to go by the side for rice.

I am sure, anyone who has had it atleast once would never forget the taste of it and wouldn't say no to it. They are just perfect to pair with rice.

Beetroot Pachadi

Jacob is a big fan of beetroot pachadi. No matter how much amount of pachadi I make, it just doesn't calm down his craving. He told me the other day to make this pachadi and stock it and he wouldn't mind having it every day.

I love Beetroot pachadi. Infact, beetroot in this form is more appealing to me than in the form of stir fry. But my love for it is not as crazy as Jacob's. In summer, this pachadi is so helpful to calm down the heat. Jordan loves it colour. He smiles seeing its colour when I try mixing it with rice to feed him. Both father and son's love for this veggie made me, to start loving it. And I must say, my love for it is getting better day by day.

Mathanga Erissery / Pumpkin Erissery

As a kid, I was a picky eater. I was lean too. So people used to think I never ate anything. But if I was provided with something that I love, I would just hog on it. It has not changed much over the years. I still do that :). So anyone who asked me what was my favorite curry was; without any second thought I would say - Mathanga Erissery. I loved it and I still do.

We make this quite often these days. Jacob too loves it and Jordan finds it easy to eat as it just does not need any chewing. And the main highlight is that its not difficult to make.

Sambharam / Morum Vellam / Spiced Buttermilk / Pacha Moru

It is getting hotter day by day. All you want is to drink water and juice. If we go out for few minutes, we return all tired and burnt. The first thing then to have is something cold to gulp down. The thoughts would have options of lime soda, juice, sambharam/moru etc. 

Liking towards Sambharam is one common thing between me and Jacob. On a lazy/busy day if I don't make any charu to go with rice then making a sambharam is all what I do, because yogurt is always there at home.

Paal Payasam / Rice Pudding / Rice Kheer / Milk Pudding

This payasam is the easiest of all. With just minimum ingredients it can be made quickly. After all it is Onam, and a payasam is a must have.

This time, it was at the last moment that I decided to go with this payasam. Well, I had to, as I had not planned well for payasam preparation for Onam in advance and hence didn't have ingredients to make our favorite payasam - Cherupayar Parippu Payasam. Neither did I have Semiya to make Semiya Payasam. So we ended up making it.

Kadumanga Achar / Kerala Style Mango Pickle

Any Sadya is incomplete without pickles. For us, every lunch/dinner is incomplete without it. Now that we tend to have pickle everyday, it vanishes very quickly.

So when I make pickle, I would rather choose to make the simplest of the recipes than investing a huge amount of time making something fancy and see it vanish fast. This is one such pickle - quick and simple to make, provided you manage to get raw mangoes easily.

Cherupayar Parippu Payasam / Split Mung Beans Payasam

When engagement anniversary, wedding anniversary and birthday falls in the same month with an interval of less than a week, making specials for each event gets exciting but at the same time leaves us with too much of left overs. Yes, February is special for us. We used to bake cakes for each of these occasions, but realized that its too much for just two of us.

So now, we have come up with a solution of spreading it in the form of a special dinner or a cake/bake or a dessert - anyone of these for each of these occasion. Also these get to be made only in amounts that suffices our appetite and craving.

Moru Kachiyathu / Kachiya Moru / Seasoned Buttermilk

Moru Kachiyathu is a must at our house and I am sure it would be the same for most of us malayali's. It is so amazing, how such a simple recipe can enhance the taste of lunch to a greater level. 

Choru (rice) and Moru Kachiyathu, itself is such a great combination that with just a simple egg omelet (indian style) as a side, you are sure to have had a fulfilling lunch. All said, while I clicked the below pictures for this post, I had my all time favorite Kale Kootu to go along with rice and Kachiya moru.