Veg Kootu Curry

Kootu Curry is a simple, yet delicious dish that’s made in most Tamil homes. It’s a healthy South Indian dish that’s specially made during the Pongal season; in fact, this simple dish is made for most of the festivals. Here is how to make it.

South Indian food is an absolute love!

So simple, yet so flavourful, this cuisine offers a wide variety of recipes.

From spicy and tangy curries to humble and subtle curries, this cuisine has it all! 

One such curry that has bowled me over with its subtle and humble flavors was this Kootu Curry.

It is a simple curry with the goodness of vegetables that are made in almost all Tamil households. 

The taste of this vegetable mix with hot rice and a dollop of ghee is simply divine. 

This Mixed Vegetable Kootu Curry is very different from the traditional Avial as the mix of ingredients that go into this is quite different.

You’ll find that each Tamil home has its own style of making this dish and the way vegetables are chosen also differs from home to home.

It is an easy recipe and thus I love making it for my everyday meals with some steamed rice and rice papad on the side. 

It is also a great way to use all your leftover vegetables, and believe me even your kids will love this one due to its unique taste. 

So, make this delicious Vegetable Kootu Curry and watch your kids enjoy a healthy mix of vegetables, that’s right; we are incorporating an assortment of vegetables in this dish that gives it a very unique texture and great flavor too.

Here are some more popular South Indian Veg Curries, that you would like to try – Moru Curry, Ulli Theeyal, Kadala Curry, Vegetable Stew, and Veg Kurma. 

What is Vegetable Kootu Curry?

This South Indian curry is a delicious combination of vegetables, spices, and coconut.

A fresh coconut paste along with other spices such as coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, chana dal, cumin seeds, dry red chillies is made, which adds a delicious taste to the curry. 

For this Vegetable Kootu Curry, we’re also making use of peanuts and lentils that add to the nutritional content of this dish.

So I call this a super healthy curry and it can be served with a bowl of plain rice and it makes for a complete and satisfying meal.

There is also some subtle flavoring that is added that helps bring all the vegetables together really well, the use of grated coconut gives it a light taste.

Ingredients

Serving Suggestions

This Curry tastes great along with simple Steamed Rice, dollop of ghee, pickle, and rice papad on the side.

But sometimes, I also serve it with Tawa Paratha, Laccha Paratha or even along with crispy Dosa. 

Process

To make this kootu, dal is cooked with peanuts and some water. Once the dal is cooked, the mix is mashed.

Then all the vegetables like diced carrots, beans, peeled and cubed potatoes, cubed pumpkin, cucumber, peas are added into a pressure cooker and cooked with some salt, turmeric powder and water.

Once the vegetables are cooked, oil is heated to which all the spices, dry chilli, and chana dal are added and fried.

Once this spice mixture has cooled down, it’s added along with some coconut and water in a grinder and mixed into a smooth paste.

Finally, the cooked vegetables, dal, and freshly ground masala powder are cooked on low heat.

We are also making a tempering that will helps enhance the flavor of the whole curry.

To make the tempering, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves are added and allowed to crackle. This tempering is then poured over the kootu and mixed together.

This curry can be served with both rice and chapatti; you could make it off a little thicker consistency if you plan on serving it with chapatti.

Some of the other curries you could try are Chickpea Pumpkin Coconut Curry, Ulli Theeyal, Dhingri Matar Curry, and a healthy Palak Corn Curry.

How to make it Step by Step

Wash tuvar dal and add it in a pressure cooker along with peanuts, salt and 1 cup of water.

Pressure cook until dal is nicely cooked. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release. Mash the dal and keep it aside.

Add all the vegetables in a pressure cooker along with salt, turmeric powder and 1 cup of water and pressure cook until they are softened. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release. Keep the cooked vegetables aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and chana dal and fry until they turn slightly brown.

Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool. Add the mixture in a grinder along with coconut and some water and grind to make smooth paste.

Now in a  pan, add cooked vegetables, cooked dal and masala paste and cook for 10-12 minutes on low heat.

Add more water if required. If you plan to serve the Kootu with rice, you can keep it thinner and if you want to serve as a side dish for chapati, you can keep it thicker.

For tempering, heat vegetable oil in a pan.

Once the oil is hot, add mustard seedss, urad dal and curry leaves and let them crackle for  a few seconds.

Pour the tempering over the kootu and mix well. Serve hot with rice or chapati.