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Kootu
கூட்டு: soft vegetables and moong dal in a cumin and coconut paste
Kootu sits halfway between a dal and a vegetable dish, and in Tamil homes it is the mild, kind side on a lunch plate next to a sharp rasam or a fiery kuzhambu. Chopped vegetables such as chow-chow, snake gourd, cabbage or pumpkin are cooked with moong dal until soft, then thickened with a paste of fresh coconut, cumin and a little green chilli. It's the dish many Tamil grandmothers give children and anyone recovering from a fever. Spoon it over rice with ghee or serve it alongside sambar and poriyal. Chef's tip: grind the coconut paste with the cumin raw, not toasted; the fresh, sweet cumin flavour is what makes kootu taste like kootu.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the dal and vegetables
For the coconut paste
For the tempering
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 3 ½ oz split yellow moong dal, 1 ½ cups water and ¼ tsp ground turmeric in a pan, bring to the boil over a medium-high heat and skim off the froth. Simmer partly covered over a medium-low heat for 12–15 minutes until the dal is soft and falls apart when pressed.
15 minStep 2: Meanwhile, grind 1 ¾ oz fresh grated coconut, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 2 green chillies with ¼ cup water to a smooth, thick paste.
Step 3: Add 10 ½ oz chow-chow (chayote), snake gourd or white pumpkin, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup water to the dal. Simmer for 8–10 minutes until the vegetables are just tender: a knife should slide into a cube with no crunch, but it should still hold its shape.
10 minStep 4: Stir in the coconut paste and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes until it no longer smells raw and the kootu is thick enough to sit in a mound on a spoon. Common mistake: boiling it hard after the coconut goes in; the paste splits and turns grainy. Keep it at a gentle bubble.
4 minStep 5: For the tempering, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a small pan over a medium heat. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds; when it crackles, add 1 tsp urad dal and 1 dried red chilli and fry until the dal is golden, about 30 seconds. Add ¼ tsp gluten-free asafoetida and 10 curry leaves, then pour the sizzling tempering over the kootu.
1 minStep 6: Stir, check the salt and serve warm with rice, rasam or chapati.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kootu take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of ground turmeric?
- Leave it out (it mostly adds colour).
- What can I use instead of cumin seeds?
- Ground cumin, three quarters of the amount (add it with the other ground spices, not to hot oil first).
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