Since both my parents are from Kerala, I have very strong culinary roots there. Ours is a matrilinear society in the Nair community, with some very strong women — and one dish I made that has never satisfied my grandmother, sister, or mother is the Erissery! Either the pumpkin wasn’t cooked, or it was mashed too much, or the coconut was not browned perfectly, or something else went wrong.

But I finally discovered that the secret to this dish is plenty of patience and the trick is in that coconut. People try to hurry things up on a high flame but the coconut needs to be roasted slowly on a medium flame, till that beautiful aroma permeates the air and it is perfect to add to the Erissery.

Even today, whenever I see my trained chefs making it in the kitchen, I instinctively take over! Finally, around seven or eight years ago, my mother finally gave her approval for the way I made it! This dish is also an intergral part of the Onam or Vishu sadhya that we Malayalis put up for these festivals.

Other favourites I enjoy making in my cuisine are sambar, something so simple but so varied that it differs even from home to home. I also thoroughly enjoy fresh fish fries, simply spiced with chilli, turmeric and salt, which does not let the essential flavour of the fish be overpowered.

Other favourites I enjoy making in my cuisine are sambar, something so simple but so varied that it differs even from home to home. I also thoroughly enjoy fresh fish fries, simply spiced with chilli, turmeric and salt, which does not let the essential flavour of the fish be overpowered.

In small pockets in Kerala, towards the hills in the Western Ghats, a lot of pork is used — especially wild pork — by small tribal communities, an elusive fact I learnt through my travels there as a documentary-maker.

And there is of course beef with porotta, another meat that needs to be slow cooked — we prefer to use fillet bits, take small morsels, spice it really well, half cook it first and then fry it again! As a result, it becomes less hard and chewy, a risk one has with beef. It is traditionally eaten with the lovely Malabar paratha, which I make in my restaurant without egg — and it still turns out beautifully flaky! 

(As told to Shweta.Kapur@timesgroup.com)

Pics: Nikhil Ghorpade

•    Boil and cook the pumpkin cubes with turmeric and red chilly powder till well done. Drain the water and keep aside
•    Grind one grated coconut with green chillies and cumin seeds to a smooth paste
•    Dry roast ½ the coconut till brown
•    Heat a tablespoon of oil and crackle the mustard seeds, whole red chillies and curry leaves
•    Add the cooked pumpkin cubes and stir fry for a couple of minutes
•    Mix in the coconut paste and stir well till pumpkin is almost mashed. Salt to taste
•    Add the roasted coconut and mix well

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►   Chef Arun Kumar, unusually enough, has no official culinary training whatsoever – his talent comes from a natural instinct in the kitchen, a passion for good food, and much travel and exposure.

He started out as a journalist, moved onto film-making, created several feature documentaries for the likes of Discovery and National Geographic and finally segued into the catering business in New Delhi.

Having renewed his love for food professionally, he soon found himself heading the kitchens at Zambar. Currently, as the Culinary Consultant there, he claims being a chef is his ‘last stop’, as he enjoys reinventing menus and celebrating cuisine across a range of communities from South India