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 Finely Chopped Cabbage
1 medium size Tomato (chopped into quarters)
1 medium size Potato (peeled and diced)
¼ Cup Yellow Moong Dal
3 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
Cabbage Kootu
Preparation
Dry roast the moong dal in a heated pan for about a minute.
Add 2 cups of water and let it boil on medium heat till the dal softens
The chopped cabbage, tomato and potato are added to the cooked dal.
Add the salt, asafoetida, sambhar powder and the remaining 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 vegetables and 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: Chokoes, Beans, Double Beans and Drumstick can be prepared almost the same way with the exception of the potato and the tomato which is generally not used in this preparation.
My preference is to use less of the lentils and more of the vegetable