Thursday, April 12, 2012

KOOTTU



Koottu is a part of every feast – it is prepared with ash gourd / bottle gourd and chana dal (kadala paruppu) and coconut. It tastes best with morkoottan and pulungari. It tastes good with sambar too but as sambar already has a lot of tuvar dal, it is better to avoid kootu with it as koottu also contains Bengal gram dal – the combo can produce a lot of gas.

Ingredients -
Ash gourd / bottle gourd – 600 gms – diced
Snake gourd – 100 gms – diced
Yam –100 gms – diced (½ cup) – pressure-cooked
Raw banana – 1 - diced
Peas (optional) – 1 tbsp
Carrot (optional) – 1 (diced)
Koorkka (optional) – 7-8 - diced
Bengal gram dal – 2 heaped tbsp – soaked in water for an hour and pressure – cooked.
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Red chilli powder – 1tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Red chilli – 2 pieces
Curry leaves - 8

Method
In a heavy bottomed pan add all the vegetables except yam, carrot and koorka.
Add 1 cup of water, turmeric and red chilli powders and sugar and salt.
Cook covered on low heat.
Add a little more water if needed for the vegetables to get cooked.
Pressure-cook the soaked dal, koorkka, carrot and yam with a pinch of turmeric powder and a little salt. Allow to cool.
Add the cooked dal, koorkka, carrot and yam to the rest of the vegetables.
Add grated coconut and stir well.
It should have a semi-solid consistency. If it is too dry, you can add the water of the cooked dal. If it is too watery, heat on high flame to evaporate the excess water.
Heat 1 tsp of oil and add the mustard seeds and urad dal and red chilli pieces. Before adding it to the koottu, add the curry leaves to it.

Tips
Instead of adding fresh coconut, you can also fry the grated coconut in a tsp of oil till it is light brown.

© Copyright 2011. Brinda Balasubramonian.

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