Comfort food in our house means rotis with kootu, “thayir “(curd) and pickles. Dry vegetables can be, well, too dry for Chennai, and gravies can become too spicy. Besides there aint any quicker way to prepare vegetables than the classic Tamil Kootu way. There are of course a few ways in which one can make these mildly flavoured lentils depending on vegetables. I have made a plain version similar to what is usually used for cabbage.
For the actual Poricha kootu version, refer to the Drumstick Kootu I had posted earlier.
This is my entry for Shaheen’s Summer Express Cooking event. But this isnt really an express meal, in fact its pretty relaxed!!! And takes under 20 minutes.
Preparation time: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 minutes, Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
For Kootu
- Snake Gourd – 250 gms
- 3/4 cup Moong Dal
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 2 tbsp Grated Coconut
- 2 nos Red Chillies
- 4 twigs Fresh Coriander
- a pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Urad Dal
- Salt to taste
- Oil for Cooking
For Rotis
- 1 1/2 cups Wheat Flour
- 1 tsp Ghee
- Water to Knead
- Salt to Taste
Method
- Put Moong Dal with 2 cups of water and turmeric powder to steam in a pan or pressure Cooker.
- Fry Red Chillies in a 1 tsp for oil. Turn off the heat and add Grated coconut. Keep aside for cooling. The coconut should have just a mild golden colour.
- Wash the Snake Gourd. Cut it length wise into two, remove seeds and slice into small semi circles.
- Wash and roughly chop the coriander leaves.
- Turn off the Cooker or Pan.
- Put the Snake Gourd in a Microwave Safe Bowl with Hing, sprinkle a few drops of water and Micro on High for 6 minutes.
- While the Snake Gourd is cooking, knead the Wheat Flour with salt and water into a firm dough. Knead till the dough is elastic. Add the Ghee to the dough towards the end, divide into 10 rounds and set aside.
- Grind the roasted red chillies and coconut to a fine paste with 1 tsp water.
- The Snake Gourd would have finished cooking in the Microwave and pressure released from the Cooker. Remove the Moong Dal and mash lightly.
- Add the Moong Dal, Salt and Coconut-Red Chilli Paste to the Snake Gourd in the Microwave Container. Mix well, and Micro on high for four minutes.
- Set the Roti Skillet on a low flame. Take a plate or a basket with a clean cloth on it to set aside the rotis.
- Press one round ball of the Roti Dough flat lightly with your palms on a flat surface. Roll over the pinwheel evenly, turning the flattened round slowly. Bring sides together and roll out into a circle again. This should give you a perfectly shaped (ok, may be fairly) round roti.*
- Put the roti on the skillet. Cook both sides for a few seconds on a low flame. Increase flame to high when small whitish or pinkish spots or air pockets start to appear. Cook the other side. Repeat this until brown spots appear on both sides.
- Proceed similarly with all the other rotis.
- Remove the Snake Gourd Kootu from the Microwave. Add chopped coriander leaves. Mix well with a ladle.
- Splutter mustard seeds and urad dal with a little oil on the stove. Add this tempering to the Snake Gourd Kootu.
Serve Hot with Curd and Pickles.
*It is always better to use dough that has been set aside for at least 20 minutes. Fresh dough may not puff much. Folding dough and rolling out again helps.
Latha I have just posted your awards in my new post 🙂 Thanx 🙂
The express meal is nice and simple, fit for summer lunch.Nice entry Lakshmi 🙂
u are right..some of our recipes are too time consuming and your dal recipe looks good with roti.
Snake Gourd is like a summer squash? We love lentils. What a great combination! The roti sounds a lot like my flatbread but cooked on top of the stove–much better than the oven when the temperature is 100F.
We love lentils too Emily :), its cooked almost on a daily basis for at least one meal. I remember reading that Summer Squash would be a good substitute for Snake Gourd. Snake Gourd is long and greenish, the good ones are supple without being mushy.
Latha…nice UI…looks cool…
and the express meal is super fast…nice entry…you girls are rocking…
Srivalli
http://www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com
I too have this type of kootu made in my blog but I use chana dal instead of moong dal. Have to try out your way.
Yummy meal.Nothing beats comfort meal like this and if it’s quick to make, a feather on the cap!:))
I love snake gourd kootu but at times they are not easily found here and when I do get them, rather expensive and tough-looking.
Laavanya, Chennai is fortunately gifted with good Snake Gourds :). One of my favourite visuals is that of Slim long supple Snake Gourds stacked neatly by road side vendors near Kapaleeshwar temple in Mylapore. The scene is classic, it just makes you want to immediately buy one and cook.
I add green chilli and jeeragam too with the ground paste. Cumin gives a fabulous flavour to the kootu. I would love to see your pulippu kootu recipe too sometime.
Each time I see your comment, I am reminded of your fondant icing animals. Jeeba and Eephant were esp very very cute – that post remind me of my childhood.
Yep, Jeeragam adds a lovely flavour :). I skip Cumin when I want the coconut flavour to be predominant.
I love tamil kootus. It’s been so long since I made one. Yours looks yummy.
oh yeah, this is some fast and tasty comfort food.
Hema, you should read about lakshmi in ‘About’. Every day she cooks a different curry! She wont remember what ingredients she used unless ahe calls and tells me immediately.My hubby and son feel they are missing all those great dishes and have to be satisfied with my boring stuff.:(
latha.
I too make similar koottu. Will try your version sometime.
Nice to have with chapathi.
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