Chena pulissery (yam cooked in coconut and curd gravy)

step 1
Cook the yam, pieces in a sauce pan with almost 1/4 cup water and turmeric powder, until done. Set this aside.

step 2
Place grated coconut, curd, green chillies, cumin seeds and peppercorns in the bowl of a blender and blend till you get a coarse mixture.
Pour this into a strainer and squeeze the mixture well so that you can get approximately 2 cups of juice.
(If you find this step a little complicated you could skip this step. But see it to that the mixture is blended into an ultra smooth paste which can be directly used for cooking. I have tried both ways but found the former way much better)

step 3
Now take the saucepan with the cooked yam and pour the juice/mixture into it.
Place this over a medium flame and cook by stirring continuously.
Do not leave the vessel unattended because the curd may separate giving a bad texture to the curry.

step 4
Stir on till the gravy starts thickening which might take about 15-20 mins.
Once the curry reaches required consistency, remove from flame and set aside.

step 5
Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan and add the mustard seed. Once the seeds start spluttering, add the dry red chillies and the curry leaves.

Garnish pulissery with this and serve hot with some rice.