Pooshnikkai Mochai Kootu

This was really my very first attempt at making kootu. I had some chopped ash gourd in my freezer. I also had some soaked and cooked hyacinth beans (rangoon mochai/avro) in the freezer. Even though I try not to use up my frozen goods on a weekend, sometimes I am my laziest best on a weekend. A quick call to Amma and I had the recipe for this kootu. It turned out to be a slight disaster as the consistency wasn't really close to that of a kootu. A real kootu should look more like this. But we still enjoyed it with some rice and yelai paruppu.

1 cup Ash Gourd, cubed

1 cup Hyacinth Beans, soaked and cooked

2 tbsp Chana Dal + 1 tsp Chana Dal

1/2 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Udad Dal

1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 tbsp Coconut, scraped

1 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

For the tempering:

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

7-8 Curry Leaves

Pressure cook the ash gourd with 2 tablespoons of chana dal. Add the hyacinth beans. Add the asafoetida to this.

In a frying ladle, heat a teaspoon of oil. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, along with the udad and chana dals. Fry for a minute. Grind this along with the coconut to a fine paste.

Add this paste to the ash gourd-bean mixture along with some salt and mix well.

In a frying ladle, heat another teaspoon of oil and add the mustard to it. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves. Add this tempering to the kootu.

You have great tasting comfort food on the table. Enjoy this with rice and paruppu and when you're done with lunch, settle down in front of the TV and doze maybe?