Cucumber Kootu

Ingredients:


TO PRESSURE COOK: 


Cucumber (Vellarikkai) - chopped into cubes
Green gram (Moong dhal / Payatham Paruppu) - 2 tbsp
Bengal gram (Channa dhal / Kadalai Paruppu) - 1 tbsp
Sambar Podi - 1 tsp
Salt to taste 


TO GRIND:


Red Chilli (Milagai Vathal - Red) - 1 or 2
Black Gram / Urad Dhal (Ulundham Paruppu) - 1 tbsp
Coconut (half) or desiccated coconut

TO GARNISH:

Oil - 1 or 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds (kadugu) - 1tsp
Asafoetida powder (Hing or Perungaayam) - a pinch
Curry leaves (Karivaepilai)


Preparation:


Cut the cucumber into small cubes.
Put this in a pressure cooker along with washed green gram and bengal gram and pour water in such a way that the vegetable is 50% immersed in water. Cucumber will expel water from itself, so too much water will make kootu soggy.
Add sambar podi
Now pressure cook it for 2 or 3 whistles (as cucumber will cook easily).


In a pan, pour oil; add black gram and fry until the dhal becomes golden brown. Add red chillies and saute a bit. 
Transfer the contents of the fried dhal and chilly to mixie, add coconut, little water and grind into a thick paste. 
Add the ground paste to the contents of the pressure cooker and mix well with the cooked vegetable. Add salt. Bring it to boil on low flame so coconut is cooked, flavour filters into the kootu and life span of the kootu stays longer.

Add oil in a pan, Sputter some mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves and add it to the kootu. Tasty kootu is ready.


Be sure to be gentle while mixing the kootu with laddle as cucumber will squash if handled roughly. Based upon your taste buds you can tweek the quantity of the ingredients if you wish to. 

Note: 
3 tsp (tea spoons) = 1 tbsp (table spoon) - approximately


Some Indian Spices

Thanks for recipe...