Chettinadu style No-Oil Keerai Kootu [ No-oil South-Indian Spinach Dal]

Though I cook more of this onion-tomato style keerai-masiyal, once in a while I prefer this comforting no-oil keerai kootu which is what is usually made in chettinadu homes. Its an extremely simple and delicious quick kootu that you might be tempted to make because its completely oil-free. All it needs is a few healthy ingredients into a pressure cooker, cook for 10 minutes and your done :). Isnt that reason enough to try and see if this can become a staple at your home?

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Low
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook time - 15 min

Spinach - 200 gms, washed well and chopped finely
Moong dal - 1/3 cup
Shallots - 4-5, minced finely
Garlic - 3 cloves, minced finely
Green chilli - 2, slit lengthwise
Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1/2 Tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - as per need
Water - 1.5 cups [ or as per need]

How do you do it

1. Bring to boil a cup of water in a  pressure cooker, add turmeric and moong dal and let the moong dal get cooked.

2. Once the dal is almost cooked, add in the chopped spinach leaves, shallots, green chilli, garlic, cumin seeds, 3/4 cup water and required salt.

3. Mix well and let the spinach leaves get cooked and become soft - about 5 minutes.

4. Now close the pressure cooker lid and  cook for one whistle, switch off flame and let the pressure release naturally.

5. Open the lid, bring to boil again and once the kootu is in a semi solid consistency remove it from stove and kootu is ready to serve


This could be eaten as such, I do that sometimes, just eat keerai kootu right out of the bowl like a thick soup, or if you want a big meal - my best serving suggestion would be to have it with white rice and this yummy murungakai-puzhi-kuzhambu.

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Kumbakonam Kaddapa

Kadappa is very famous kumbakonam side dish for idli/dosai. Its a cross between sambar and kurma and a combination that I normally wouldn't think of putting together.

I was really bored of the usual idli-dosai side dishes and wanted to cook up something entirely different. I googled immediately and this kadappa recipe came up. I quickly searched the ingredients list and saw moong dal, potato and a coconut paste. This combination sounded quite weird. And then i thought- I like moong dal, potato - yum, and coconut paste - mm-mm, so whats not to like right? ;). So decided to give this recipe a shot and I was pleasantly surprised at its different yet yum taste. Sometimes certain combinations don't strike a good chord immediately but this one did :). I was happy at discovering this authentic kumbakonam recipe! For me, from now on kadappa goes into my usual list of dosai accompaniments :-).

Kumbakonam Kadappa

Ingredients

Modified from here

Serves - 3
Spice Level - Moderately spicy
Prep Time - 20 min
Cook time - 15 min

Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Potato - 1 Large
Green chilli - 1, sliced thinly
Onion - 2 , sliced thinly lengthwise
Tomato  - 1 , chopped or juice of 1/2 lemon
Coriander Leaves - 1 Tbsp , to garnish
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - as needed

To Temper

Oil - 1 Tbsp
Hing - a pinch
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Bay Leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Curry Leaves - to sprig

To grind to a paste

Coconut - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 2
Fennel - 1 Tsp
Jeera/Cumin - 1 Tsp
Poppy seeds [ khas khas ] - 1 Tsp
Garlic cloves - 2
water - few tbsp to grind with

How do you do it

1. Firstly pressure cook the moong dal with a pinch of turmeric and mash and keep aside. Also pressure cook the potatoes and mash roughly and keep aside.

2. Grind the items under " To grind to a paste".

3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing,bay leaf, cinnamon and mustard , jeera - let them roast. Add curry leaves and onion, green chilli and saute till onions are translucent. Add in the tomato pieces, little salt and saute till they are soft and mushy. They should let the juice out.

4. Add the mashed dal and potatoes and stir well. Simmer flame now, as you don't want the dal and potato mix to get burnt. Add in 2 cups of water, remaining salt and mix well. Let them come to a slow boil.

5. Maintain low flame. Add in the coconut paste now and mix well and bring to a slow boil. Let it boil on low flame for 2 minutes. Adjust consistency of the curry at this stage.

6. Switch off flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with crispy dosai.

Notes

You can skip the tomato and add juice of half a lemon, but you need to add lemon juice at the end after switching off the flame.

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Bean Paruppu Poriyal | Beans-Moong dal stir fry

Combine beans and moong dal for a poriyal dish and its the tastiest poriyal ever. I don't prefer making poriyals with grated coconut, I would like a dal to be used instead and this does get many folks to like the poriyal rather than considering them to be quite boring. Try this poriyal and it would become a favorite, trust me!.

Beans Poriyal

Ingredients

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy
Prep Time - 20 min
Cook time - 10 min

Moon dal - 1/4 cup , pressure cooked with a pinch of turmeric such that its tender but doesn't get mashed when added later
Beans - 250 gm , chopped into small pieces and steamed until tender
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Urad dal - 1 Tsp
Jeera/Cumin  - 1 Tsp
Dry Red chilli - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

How do you do it

Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard, urad dal, jeera and let it roast. Break the red chilli and add along with curry leaves. Add the boiled beans, half the amount of salt and saute for a 3-4 minutes. Add the boiled moong dal and mix well. Add remaining salt and saute for a couple of more minutes. Remove from flame.

Serve with rice and some spicy gravy/kuzhambu

Notes

I prefer the moong dal being tender but firm such that it doesn't get mashed when added to the beans. But amma boils the moong dal quite well, so that it gets mashed when added later. You may do it either way.

 

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Kovakai Kootu | Mildy spiced Ivy Gourd with lentils

Kovakai/Ivy gourd is not a favorite among many, S is no different. Its a very healthy veggie to take in and the only way I could hide its taste was to make a kootu :). If you belong to same category , try this kootu!. Its a very simple , healthy preparation and a really quick one. Me - I can eat this subji in many other preparations as well :).

Kovakai Kootu

Ingredients

Recipe Source - My Mom  ** She is great in tricking you into eating veggies you don't like :) **

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Not spicy
Prep Time - 10 min
Cook time  - 20 min

Ivy Gourd/Kovakai - 300 gm [ chopped into small pieces]
Moon dal - 1/4 cup
Small/Sambar Onion/Shallots - 3
Garlic cloves - 2
Curry leaves - 1 Sprig
Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
Kuzhambu/Sambar powder - 1/2 Tsp
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Water - 2 cups

To Temper

Oil - 1 Tsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Hing - a pinch
Urad dal - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - as per need

How do you make it

Take a pressure cooker, dump all ingredients [except the "To Temper" and salt] and pressure cook for 15-20 minutes. Keep on high flame until the first whistle and then lower flame for the remaining time. Let the cooker cool down. Meanwhile heat 1 Tsp oil in a kadai. Add hing, mustard and urad dal and let them roast. Now open the pressure cooker. Heat the cooker again at low flame , add required salt and let the kootu come to a boil . Adjust consistency of kootu now. Add more water if needed, or if its still in a loose state, let it thicken. When you have the desired consistency, switch off flame and pour in the tempering and mix well.

Serve with rice and some spicy potato curry.

Notes

You can use the same recipe with snake gourd [Podalangai] too, it will be equally yum! :)


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