Radish Kootu

Kootus are essentially vegetable and lentil based dishes which are semi-solid, i.e., less aqueous than sambhar, but more so than dry curries. Rice and kootu is a common and simple Tamil meal. In Tamil cuisine kootus are considered substitutes for both curries and sambhar.(Source: Wiki)


I’ve made kootu with a couple of different vegetables depending on what I have available. Most members of the gourd family- bottle gourd, chayote (chow-chow) to name a couple- are excellent choices for a kootu.

This is a very simple and tasty kootu that I often make with radishes.

Ingredients:
10-12 radishes cut into small pieces
1 ½ cups cooked toor dal/split pigeon peas (I pressure cook dal in large quantities and freeze in separate batches for later use.)
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste.

To be ground to a paste:
4 Tbsp coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 red chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
4-5 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Method:
Cook the radish pieces along with a few curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder in some water on medium heat till the pieces turn soft.

Add the ground paste of coconut, cumin and red chillies to this and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cooked toor dal, mix and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning. Add to the kootu and mix.

Serve with steaming hot rice.