Chenakayi Erissery Recipe – Yam Erissery

Erissery is one of the famous dish from Kerala cuisine and an integral part of any Onam Sadya. The base of the erissery is a blend with fresh coconut, cumin, pepper, and chillies. Course : Side Dish Ingridients : 2 cups Elephant yam (Suran/Senai/Ratalu) , scraped well and cubed to bite size 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) Salt , to taste For Grinding 1 cup Fresh coconut , grated 3 Green Chillies , (adjust) 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1/2 teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns For Tempering 1 teaspoons Coconut Oil 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai/ Kadugu) 1 sprig Curry leaves Instructions To begin making the Chenakayi Erissery Recipe, prepare all the ingredients required to make this dish.Take a heavy bottomed pan, add yam along with little water, turmeric and salt. Cover the pan and cook till it becomes soft.Meanwhile, prepare the masala. Take half of the coconut mentioned along with cumin, pepper, green chilli and grind to a coarse paste adding 2-3 tablespoon of water. Keep it aside.When the yam pieces are cooked well, mash them lightly using the back of the ladle.To the semi-mashed yam pieces, add the ground masala, salt and sprinkle a little water (if the water added initially has dried out). Mix everything well. Keep the flame on low and cover and cook for 4-5 minutes so that all the flavors are infused. Meanwhile, heat another pan and toast the coconut on low flame until golden brown. Keep aside. Next, Prepare the tempering. Add coconut oil. When it is hot, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add curry leaves and switch off. Finally, mix both the roasted coconut and tempering to the Yam erissery and gently give a stir. Reserve a little amount of roasted coconut for garnish.Garnish with roasted coconut and serve Chenakayi Erissery Recipe along with Steamed Rice, Malabari Parotta and Kerala Kadala Curry Recipe.