Mathanga Erissery is a traditional Kerala recipe made using yellow pumpkin, black-eyed peas and freshly ground coconut. This delicately sweet curry, which boasts a smooth consistency and coconut flavour, is an essential part of the traditional Kerala Onam Sadya meal.
In the Malayalam language, Mathanga means pumpkin, whereas the term Erissery means coconut vegetable curry. The uniqueness of the dish is in its creamy pumpkin, savoury cowpeas and aromatic tempering comprising mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, and roasted coconut.
Mathanga Erissery is a mild-flavoured curry, unlike most spicy curries where pumpkin flavour can easily be tasted. Additionally, it is both vegan and gluten-free, thus a fantastic addition to the traditional Indian vegetarian meal.
Mathanga Erissery Recipe Details
Mathanga Erissery takes about 25 minutes for preparation and 25 minutes for cooking. Thus, the total time involved in preparing it is about 50 minutes. This recipe serves about 3 people, and it falls under the category of Kerala and South Indian cuisine and can be consumed as a main-course accompaniment or side dish. This dish involves boiling and tempering as the two main cooking techniques, and it is a naturally vegetarian and gluten-free recipe.
Required Ingredients
Pumpkin mixture requires the following ingredients: 200-250 grams yellow pumpkin, peeled and chopped into pieces, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder (optional), salt to taste and 1 cup of water. As far as the legumes are concerned, one needs to prepare ½ cup black-eyed peas or cowpeas (washed and soaked) with 2-2 ½ cups water for cooking.
Coconut paste requires ¾ cup grated coconut, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 green chilli and ½ cup water. As far as the tempering is concerned, one requires 1-1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, 12-15 curry leaves, 1-2 dried red chillies and 2-3 tablespoons grated coconut.
How to Make Mathanga Erissery
Black-Eyed Peas Preparation
Rinse the black-eyed peas well in water and allow them to soak for 1-2 hours. Then place them in a pressure cooker along with salt and fresh water. Cook for about 7-9 whistles till the peas soften. Let the pressure be released naturally, drain the excess water and set aside.
Pumpkin Preparation
Start by peeling off the yellow pumpkin skin, take out its seeds and chop them into cubes. Place the pumpkin cubes in a pan and pour in water, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Cover the pan and cook on low to medium flame for around 12-15 minutes till they become soft but not mushy.
Preparation of Coconut Paste
Place the coconut flakes, cumin seeds and green chilli in the mixer grinder and grind all the ingredients to form a thick paste with the help of some water.
Cooking the ingredients
Combine the cooked cowpeas with the prepared coconut mixture along with the soft pumpkin. Mix all ingredients and add water if the curry looks very thick. Simmer for about 10-12 minutes till the flavours mix well. Crush a few pumpkin chunks to get a creamy texture.
Making the Coconut Tempering
Heat coconut oil in a pan and add mustard seeds; let them sputter. Add dried red chillies and curry leaves. Now add fresh grated coconut and fry it on a low flame till golden brown. Continue stirring till the roasted coconut mixture is made, as this will give a good flavour to the dish.
Final Steps
Add the tempering to the pumpkin and cowpea curry. Mix nicely and cover the pan for some time. The aroma of roasted coconut will spread through the dish. Your delicious traditional dish, Mathanga Erissery, is now ready to be served with steamed rice.
Tips for making perfect Mathanga Erissery
To make Mathanga Erissery more delicious, ripe and sweet yellow pumpkin should be used. Pre-soaking of cowpeas will help to soften them and shorten the cooking time. To enhance the taste of the dish, it is advised to use freshly ground coconut instead of dry coconut. The pumpkin has to be cooked soft but not turned into a puree. Roasting the coconut has to be done slowly over a small flame, and constant stirring is required until it gets a golden-brown colour. Coconut oil should be used in tempering.
Serving Suggestions and Variations
Mathanga Erissery is best consumed with steamed Kerala rice. It can also be eaten with sambar, rasam, papadam and other Kerala dishes. On Onam Day, it is served along with other dishes in Sadya as part of the festival on a banana leaf.
It can be experimented with by substituting black-eyed peas with red cowpeas in the recipe. There are recipes where yam or banana is also added to it. An additional green chilli may be added to make it spicy.
My Personal Favourite
In my personal opinion, what I love most about Mathanga Erissery is the simplicity of its components. The sweetness of pumpkin and the taste of cowpeas make an excellent combination, which is further enhanced by a roasted coconut tempering that gives a crunch and aroma.
In my opinion, the best thing is the tempering that you should put at the end of cooking. Adding a warm curry with golden coconut, curry leaves and mustard seeds makes a lovely aroma and enhances the taste of this dish. I personally would recommend serving this dish with hot rice and crispy papadam.
Conclusion
As one can see from the description of the Mathanga Erissery recipe, it is a perfect sample of Kerala’s traditional cuisine. Its ingredients, like pumpkin, cowpeas, fresh coconut and aromatic spices, make a mildly sweet, creamy and tasty curry. If you are planning to cook either an elaborate Onam Sadya or simply want a nice meal, then this recipe will be helpful for you.
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