Homemade south indian curry, kootu
While I was trying to make my way through the famous Andheri-Sakinaka traffic one morning, I recalled a travel weblog written by Matt Lloyd that talked about the Indian traffic.
It reads something like this – It is said that there are 330 million Gods in the Hindu pantheon. That gives each God about three potential drivers to look out for. And from a driving perspective, that’s a very good thing, India needs multiple teams of Gods working around the clock to keep everyone on the road safe.
Traffic is dense and crowded, and probably follows the laws of Brownian motion more than any recognisable traffic laws.
In an attempt to relate traffic to food, I started to think about a very homely curry of South Indian origin. It has enough ingredients to cause a traffic jam! However, it is so easy to make and tastes so delicious that it will make your kids jump with joy.
Ingredients:
200 gms tur dal
½ coconut freshly grounded
1 gm curry leaves
1 gm chana dal
1 gm white urad dal
3 green chilies
2 gms mustard seeds
2 gms turmeric
40 gms baby brinjal
1 drumstick
80 gms bottle gourd, peeled and diced
40 gms carrot
20 gms beans
40 ml oil (coconut)
10 ml ghee
40 ml coconut milk
Salt to taste
100 gms onion
40 gms tomatoes
Method:
1. Wash and boil tur dal with turmeric till it starts breaking/mashing, keep aside.
2. Cut into 3” size and boil drumstick separately till soft and keep aside.
3. Dice and blanch carrot and beans and add to drumstick.
4. Heat oil in a pan, add and crackle chana dal, urad dal and mustard seed.
5. Add slit brinjal and sauté for a while, remove with slotted spoon and add to vegetables.
6. Using the same oil sauté onion, curry leaves and green chilly till golden brown, add tomato and continue cooking till raw flavor of tomato is cooked out.
7. Add vegetables and coconut paste, and continue cooking for a few minutes.
8. Add boiled Arhar dal and some water, bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes till everything is well cooked.
9. Add coconut milk and salt to Kootu and let it simmer till it turns into porridge consistency.
10. Adjust seasoning and add ghee on top. Keep it covered for 10 minutes before serving with soft boiled rice.
Image courtesy: ©Thinkstock photos/ Getty images
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