White Pumpkin Kootu

Kootu is generally a lentil or yoghurt based dish with one or more vegetables and is quite popular in the South of India.
This dish is generally an accompaniment to main dishes like Sambhar, Kozhambu and can be eaten with rotis or puris as well. The dals or lentils mentioned in this preparation can be either directly cooked till it softens or can be pressure-cooked . It cooks in minutes directly on the stove if hot boiling water is used to cook the dal.
Kootu is highly nutritious because of the combination of lentils and vegetables and is well balanced like most other dishes.

Ingredients

1 ½ Cups White Pumpkin (chopped into small cubes)
¼ Cup Yellow Moong Dal
2 Cups Hot Boiling Water
2 Tsp Sambhar Powder
¼ inch piece Asafoetida or
½ Tsp. Asafoetida Powder
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
1-2 Red Chillies (Dry)
2 Tbs Freshly Grated Coconut
1 Tsp. Cumin Seeds
1-2 Tsp. Salt

For seasoning

1 Tsp. Oil
1 Tsp. Mustard seeds
1 Tsp. Urad dal
1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
few Curry leaves

White Pumpkin Kootu

White Pumpkin Kootu

Preparation

Dry roast the moong dal in a heated pan for about a minute on a low flame
Add 2 cups of the hot water and let it boil on medium heat till the dal softens
The chopped pumpkin  pieces are to be added to the cooked dal
Add the salt, asafoetida, sambhar powder and the remaining hot water
Cook it for about 6-7 minutes on medium flame
In the meantime, grind the grated coconut, cumin seeds and red chillies with a bit of water into a soft mixture.
Add this mixture to the cooked dal and the vegetable
Let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a small pan
Add the mustard seeds
When it crackles, add the urad dal and cumin seeds.
When the urad dal turns golden brown, pour this into the dal.
Garnish it with a few curry leaves.

Note: This recipe can be followed using any of these vegetables – Chokoes, Beans, Double Beans, Cabbage, Snake Gourd, Ridge Gourd, and Drumstick