Chowwary Erissery

Ingredients

• Yellow pumpkin – 2 cups, cubed
• Moti sago / chowwary – ¼ cup
• Grated coconut – ¾ cup, divided
• Cumin – 1 tsp
• Green chillies – 2
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Black pepper – ¼ tsp
• Salt – as needed
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Dried red chillies – 2
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Method

1. Rinse the sago and cook it separately in about 1½ cups water until fully tender. Drain only if excess thin water remains.
2. Cook pumpkin with turmeric, pepper, salt and just enough water until soft but not completely watery.
3. Grind ½ cup coconut with cumin and green chilli to a coarse-smooth paste.
4. Add the coconut paste to the cooked pumpkin and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes so the raw coconut flavour mellows.
5. Fold in the cooked sago gently and simmer 1 to 2 minutes. Add a splash of hot water if the curry becomes too thick; sago continues to thicken it as it stands.
6. Heat coconut oil separately. Add mustard, dried chillies and curry leaves.
7. Add the remaining ¼ cup grated coconut to the tempering and roast over low heat until deep golden and aromatic.
8. Pour the roasted-coconut tempering over the curry and switch off. Classic erissery is a Kerala vegetable-and-coconut dish without sago; this chowwary version is a deliberate adaptation.