Koottu

The lentils and the vegetables are cooked separately and then combined, thicker than sambar and looser than a stir-fry.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 150 g moong dal
• 400 g snake gourd, in cubes
• 150 g green beans, in lengths
• 3 tablespoons urad dal, for the paste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 dried red chillies
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 100 g coconut, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 600 ml water

Method

1. THE LENTILS AND THE VEGETABLES ARE COOKED SEPARATELY AND THEN COMBINED, THICKER THAN SAMBAR AND LOOSER THAN A STIR-FRY. Its article gives the method for the poricha version in that order -- moong dal and the cut vegetables cooked SEPARATELY, then the ground paste, cooked vegetables and dal MIXED AND HEATED -- and it places the consistency between two dishes that are also pages here: TYPICALLY LESS WATERY THAN SAMBAR, BUT MORE SO THAN DRY STIR-FRIES. Sambar, as on its own page, cooks everything in one pot in tamarind broth; Poriyal, as on its own page, is fried dry. This sits between them in both method and texture.
2. THE NAME IS THE INSTRUCTION. Its article derives koottu from the Tamil for ADD or MIXTURE -- vegetable added with lentils. Everything about the dish is in that.
3. THE URAD DAL IN THE PASTE IS FRIED FIRST, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. Fried urad dal, pepper, a few red chillies, cumin and fresh coconut GROUND TOGETHER. The frying is what makes the paste nutty, and raw urad in a paste tastes chalky.
4. THE PEPPER IS PART OF THE PASTE, NOT A GARNISH. Its article calls a koottu made with urad dal and pepper a poricha koottu, so the pepper is in the name of the version.
5. THE MOONG DAL IS COOKED SOFT BUT NOT TO A PUREE. Twenty minutes. Collapsed completely it becomes sambar-like; it should still show some grain.
6. THE VEGETABLES ARE COOKED IN LITTLE WATER AND DRAINED IF NEEDED. They are not meant to bring a lot of liquid into the final mix.
7. THEY ARE HEATED TOGETHER ONLY BRIEFLY. Its article says mixed and heated. Five minutes, enough for the paste to lose its rawness.
8. ITS ARTICLE NAMES THE OTHER VERSIONS AND THEY DIFFER IN THE PASTE. Araichivita koottu means literally the one which has been ground and poured, its paste fried urad dal, cumin and coconut. The araichivita sambar it also describes adds tamarind and becomes a sambar instead.
9. IT IS ONE DISH AMONG MANY AT A MEAL. Its article lists the full plate: rice, sambar, rasam, curd, poriyal, koottu, appalam, pickles and banana.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes