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Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen

A vegetarian food blog with unique and interesting recipes from all over the world mainly focused on South Indian Cuisine.

Kootu Varieties

Green Tomato Kootu | Raw Tomato Gravy with Coconut

0 · ·

All we need after the delicious Diwali goodies are the simple food. Today I am going to share one such recipe. It is the Green Tomato Kootu or the Raw Tomato gravy with coconut, or as we Thakkali Kai Kootu as, we say in Tamil.  It’s a simple kootu prepared with green/raw tomatoes, moong dal and with fresh ground coconut masala. Wondering what makes this kootu special? Read on further to know why it’s unique and also for the step by step picture recipe for this green tomato kootu.

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Vazhaithandu Mor Kootu | Plantain Stem Kootu

1 · ·

Finally a Vazhaithandu/Plantain Stem recipe on my blog. :-) I am super happy to share one of my favorite recipes today – it’s the vazhaithandu or the plantain stem mor kootu, a close cousin of Avial. For avial, we use mixed vegetables, but for this, all you need is plantain stem. With the goodness of yogurt, coconut and coconut oil, this rich and creamy kootu is sure a relish.

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Bottle Gourd Gravy | Suraikai Kootu | Paleo Style

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In the recent past, I am noticing the gaining popularity of the Paleo diet which intrigued me to research more about it. So what’s paleo diet? To put it in simple words, it’s the caveman diet or Paleolithic diet or stone-age diet. This diet includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils and of course meat while it doesn’t include any processed foods and also grains, legumes etc. A diet without grains and legumes?  Yes wiki puts it right; the diet is based on avoiding not just modern processed foods, but rather the foods that humans began eating after the Neolithic Revolution when humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled agriculture.

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Green and Purple Cabbage Kootu | Gravy

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Today’s recipe is going to be a simple day-to-day rice accompaniment and one of the common and most popular side dish that you can see in a typical Tamil Nadu Thali – Kootu. So here I am presenting a simple, no onion no garlic, green and purple cabbage kootu prepared with fresh ground coconut, curry leaves and cilantro masala. 

PurpleCabbageKootu

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Vallarai Keerai Kootu | Indian Pennywort Curry

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Vallarai Keerai Kootu is a gravy prepared with moong dal and spinach(Indian Pennywort) with fresh ground coconut masala. This can be served as a rice accompaniment and also as a side for sambar and rasam rice. Vallarai is spinach variety popularly known as Gotu Kola and its botanical name is Centella Asiatica.

GotuKolaGravy

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Murungai Kai kootu / Moringa Pods Gravy

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Murungai Kai kootu is a rice accompaniment or it can be a meal on its own when served with rice and fryums. Like all the other kootu recipes, this recipe also uses dal and I used the moong dal, and along with fresh ground masala with coconut, I used about a tsp of sambar powder and tomatoes to add that extra kick. I prepared this in slightly thicker consistency according to our preference. 

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Keerai Kadaiyal in Clay Pot

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Keerai kadaiyal is yet another signature recipe of Tamil Nadu cuisine and I wanted to try this in clay pot / Manchatti as we say in Tamil. I went with regular spinach that we get here in US (pasalai keerai) but this can be prepared with any greens that you get. It is a simple steamed spinach which is then mashed with Thayir Mathu / Buttermilk churner (see notes below) and tempered with spices. I am super glad that the Indian stores here started to carry Thandu keerai / Amaranth leaves and also Manathakkali leaves/garden huckleberry.       

ManchattiKeerai3        

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Brussel Sprouts Kootu

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2014-09-01 10.51.21

Brussel Sprouts are like mini cabbages (thats how I call it) and it pretty much tastes like cabbage too. Its one among the healthy green vegetables. I like to roast it, like how they do here in US. But I did try our regular Tamil Nadu kootu also and it came out pretty good. Now brussel sprouts kootu is one among our regular foods :-)

I have used coconut here, you can also use masala without coconut using poppy seeds as in this kootu.

Here is the recipe:

To Pressure cook:

  • Brussel Sprouts : 15
  • Moong dhal : 1/4 cup
  • Tomatoes (optional) : 2 (finely chopped)
  • Turmeric : 1/4 tsp

To grind:

  • Coconut : 1/4 cup
  • Jeera : 1 tbsp
  • Red chillies : 3 (as required)
  • Ginger (optional) : a small piece

For seasoning:

  • Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
  • Urad dhal : 1 tsp
  • Channa dhal : 1 tsp
  • Oil: 1 tbsp
  • Heeng : 1 tsp

Other Ingredients

  • Curry leaves – 1/2 strand
  • Cilantro chopped – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – 2 tsps (as required)

Steps:

  • Pressure the ingredients given under to pressure cook. (2 whistles is enough)
  • Drain the water and save 1/4 cup of water and rest you can use as vegetable broth for any soup.
  • Meanwhile, grind the masala.
  • Head the kadai and add oil.
  • Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds, urad dhal, channa dhal and heeng.
  • Once they start to splutter, add the curry leaves and saute for a minute and then add the cooked veggie and the dhal.
  • Add tumeric powder and mix well.
  • Add the grinded masala now.
  • If you want thin consistency add more water, if not let it boil for 5-7 minutes.
  • Add the chopped cilantro in the end and serve with sambhar rice or rasam rice.

No chilly No coconut Peerkangai(Ridgegourd) kootu with black pepper

3 · ·

2014-08-18 19.38.49

We are in the last week of this month’s blogging marathon. The 4th weeks theme is our own. So I picked the post partum recipes. I really like out traditional food and recipes, especially for the postpartum. The reason for using specific ingredient is really amazing and how they food as medicine is fascinating. I can keep on talking about this theme and process. You can see my thoughts on Pathiya samayal here.

So the first dish, that we are going to see is Peerkangai/Ridgegourd kootu without chillies and coconut. Red chillies increases the body heat, so they don’t use it for three months after delivery. Pepper takes the place of red chilly and they don’t use coconut also. The food needs to as light as possible, so as to prevent colic in babies. So here is the recipe

Ingredients:
Ridgegourd – 2 (peel the skin and cube them)
Salt – 1.5 tsp
Tumeric powder – ½ tsp
Moong dhal – ¼ cup
For seasoning:
Oil 1tsp
mustard seeds 1tsp
Jeera –  2 tsps
Hing – 1/2 tsp
For Grinding:
Dalia (pottu kadalai)–2 tbsps
Jeera – 1tbsp
Black Pepper : 1 tbsp
Steps:
  • Grind dalia, jeera and pepper into a smooth paste by adding water.

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  • Pressure cook the moong dal and ridge gourd together

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  • Head the kadai and add oil.
  • Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds, jeera and heeng.
  • Once they splutter add the boiled dhal and veggie.
  • Add salt, turmeric powder.
  • Let it cook for couple of minutes and then add the grinded mixture.
  • If you want thin consistency add more water, if not let it boil for 5 minutes and it is done.

2014-08-18 19.34.342014-08-18 19.34.50

Submitting this post for Blogging Marathon #43 – A 3 day marathon for 4 weeks
Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#43

Palakottai (Jackfruit seed) Kootu

0 · ·

This recipe is a simple jackfruit seed kootu or gravy with brinjals and fresh ground coconut masala. One of our friends gave us loads of Jackfruit seed (palakottai).  So obviously it’s going to be palakottai recipes week. :-) This is a great side for rice and also a great accompaniment.

Jackfruitseedbrinjalkootu

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Ashgourd Milk kootu

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Happy 4th of July. :-)

This is again a traditional dish made out of tender ash gourd or tender pumpkin. Its very simple but very delicious. Coconut oil and cooking the veggie in the milk differs it from other kootus. You don’t need any jeera for this. You need tender ash gourd (Parangi/Poosani kottai) for this recipe.

Ingredients:
Tender ash gourd (medium size) – 1
Milk (2%) – 1 cup
Water 1 cup
Salt – 1.5 tsp

For Grinding:
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Green chillies – 2

For tempering:
Regular cooking oil – 2 tsps
Coconut oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 strand

Steps:

  1. Peel the skin of ash gourd and chop into small cubes.
  2. Pressure cook or microwave it with milk and water.
  3. Grind coconut and green chillies together and keep aside.
  4. Heat the kadai and add oil.
  5. Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
  6. As they start to splutter, add the cooked ash gourd.
  7. Mix well and add salt. Let it simmer for couple of minutes.
  8. Now add the
    grinded coconut mixture and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.
  9. As the froth starts to form (because of milk), add 1 tsp of coconut oil and take it of from heat.
Thats it, yummy milk kooku ready. Serve hot with rice.

Raw Papaya Kootu | Pappali Kai Kootu

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Papaya trees are very common in my native and green papayas or the raw papayas are commonly used in cooking. We can prepare regular kootu, kai/poriyal with the green papaya. Papaya is known for its Vitamin A content and here is a simple kootu. Raw papaya tastes pretty much like chow-chow/Cayote. And I prepare this kootu same like spinach or chow-chow kootu. The only difference here is that I add onions. But that’s completely optional.

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Chow-Chow / Chayote kootu (With coconut)

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2014-12-21 19.29.14

This kootu is very similar to Keerai kootu. Instead of keerai, we are just gonna add Chow-Chow

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For Spinach, we dont need to pressure cook. For chow-chow, pressure cook the chopped chow-chow along with moong dhal. Let it cook for 2 whistles.

Ingredients:
Chow-Chow – 2 number (chop into small cubes)
Salt – as per taste
Moong dhal – ¼ cup
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
For seasoning:
Oil 1tsp
mustard seeds 1tsp
Jeera 2 tsps
Heeng 1/2 tsp
For Grinding:
Cocunut – ½ cup
Jeera – 1tbsp
Dried Red chillies – 3
Steps:
  • Grind coconut, jeera and dried red chillies into a smooth paster by adding water.

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  • Pressure cook the moong dhal and chow chow. ( 2 whistles is enough, we don’t want to over cook chow chow. The other option is pressure cook moong dhal alone and microwave chow chow for 12 minutes or steam cook it)
  • Head the kadai and add oil.
  • Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds, jeera , and heeng.
  • Once they splutter add the cooked veggie and dhal.
  • Add salt and tumeric powder.
  • Mix well and  add the grinded mixture.
  • If you want thin consistency add more water, if not let it boil for 5 minutes and it is done.
For more aroma, you can do the dhaka or seasoning using coconut oil.
  2014-12-21 19.26.47

Chow-Chow / Chayote kootu (without coconut)

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Chow-Chow / Chayote kootu (without coconut)
If you not a coconut person or if you want to reduce the intake of coconut and this is the best bet for you. In this kootu we substitute coconut with poppy seeds and daliya or chutney dhal. (pottu kadalai in tamil). It tastes really good and you wont miss coconut.
Chow-Chow – 2 number (chop into small cubes)
Salt – as per taste
Moong dhal – ¼ cup
For seasoning:
Oil 1tsp
mustard seeds 1tsp
Jeera 2 tsps
Heeng 1/2 tsp
For Grinding:
Poppy seeds – 1 tbsp
Jeera – 1tbsp
Dried Red chillies – 3
Chutney dhal – 2 tbsps
Steps:
  • Grind poppy seeds, jeera, dried red chillies and chutney dhal into a smooth paster by adding water.
  • Pressure cook the moong dhal and chow chow. ( 2 whistles is enough, we don’t want to over cook chow chow. The other option is pressure cook moong dhal alone and microwave chow chow for 12 minutes or steam cook it)
  • Head the kadai and add oil.
  • Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds, jeera and heeng.
  • Once they splutter add the boiled chow chow.
  • Add salt and let it simmer.
  • After 3-4 minutes, add the moong dhal and mix it well.
  • Now add the grinded mixture.
  • If you want thin consistency add more water, if not let it boil for 5 minutes and it is done.
This goes well with plain rice and ghee or with sambhar rice.

Keerai Kootu / Spinach Kootu

0 · ·

Kootu or kuttu is a gravy side dish made with veggie and any dhal.  For keerai kootu I prefer moong dhal as it blends well with spinach and you don’t need to pressure cook the spinach. Once the dhal is cooked, this kootu can be prepared within 15 minutes.
KeeraiKootu
 
Ingredients:
  • Spinach – 1 packet (chop them roughly)
  • Salt – as per taste
  • Grounded black pepper – ½ tsp
  • Tumeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Moong dhal – ¼ cup
For seasoning:
  • Oil 1tsp
  • Mustard seeds 1tsp
  • Jeera 2 tsps
  • Hing 1/2 tsp
For Grinding:
Cocunut – 1/4 cup
Jeera – 1tbsp
Dried Red chillies – 3
 
Steps:
  • Grind coconut, jeera and dried red chillies into a smooth paster by adding water.
  • Pressure cook the moong dhal and mash it well.
  • Head the kadai and add oil.
  • Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds, jeera and hing.
  • Once they splutter add the chopped spinach.
  • Add salt, tumeric powder and pepper.
  • Don’t add any water, mix it well. Spinach gets cooked really fast and it lets out water by itself.

KeeraiKuttuStep1

  • After 3-4 minutes, add the moong dhal and mix it well.

KeeraiKootuStep2

  • Add salt and grinded mixture.

KeeraiKootustep3

  • If you want thin consistency add more water, if not let it boil for 5 minutes and it is done.
Keerai kootu goes well with vathal kulambu and rice or with rasam also.
 
KeeraiKottuCombo

Zucchini Kootu / Dhal

0 · ·

 

This zucchini kootu or dal or pappu is prepared with moong dal and zucchini (obviously) and this goes well with rice and roti. For me kitchen is a place for trying out different food experiments. This recipe is from one such experiment.  When I was making poori Masala, I was wondering what if substitute zucchini in place of potatoes. Why not? I tried with just two variations. Usually for poori Masala, I don’t add tomatoes. During my first attempt I added tomatoes and also coconut to get feel of usual kootu. It did came out good but it didn’t become a real big hit. So tried one more variation and this turned out to be a hit. In fact hubby mentioned it was like Saravana Bhavan Style kootu. ;-) ;-)

ZucchiniDal

Ok here is the recipe,

 Ingredients:

  • Zucchini: 3
  • Onion: 1 medium sized
  • Red chillies: 4
  • Oil : 2 tsps
  • Mustard seeds: 1tsp
  • Urad dhal : 1 tsp
  • Channa dhal: 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder: 1/4 tsp
  • Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
  • Salt – 2 tsps
  • Moong dhal – 1/4 cup
  • Water: 1 cup
  • Garlic cloves : 2
  • Hing : 1 tsp

Steps:

  • Pressure cook the moong dhal with the garlic cloves and mash it well.
  • Heat the oil and add mustard seeds, urad dhal and channa dhal.
  • Break the red chillies and add them as the mustard seeds starts to splutter.
  • Add hing and onions and fry them till they become translucent
  • Add the chopped zucchini and sprinkle some water and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
  • Now add salt, cumin powder and turmeric powder and cook till the zucchini becomes tender.
  • Now add the mashed moong dhal mixture and let it boil for couple of minutes and that’s it. :-)

ZucchiniParuppuKootu

Zucchini kootu/dhal is ready.

Notes:

  • You can add chopped ginger.
  • As red chillies are the only spicing agent, adjust accordingly.
  • You can do this kootu with chow-chow, bottle gourd also.