Veg Kootu Curry (Mixed Vegetable Kootu) + Video

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 festivals. Here is a video recipe of how to make Kootu Curry.

The taste of this vegetable mix with hot rice and a dollop of ghee is simply divine. This is what simple comfort food is all about. This Mixed Vegetable kootu curry is very different from the traditional Avial as the mix of ingredients that go into this kootu is quite different.

You’ll find that each Tamil home has their own style of making this kootu and the vegetables chosen also differs from home to home. We are always on the lookout for new ways to get the kids to eat their vegetables. Arn’t you too?

Sometimes it’s in the form of a colourful soup, sometimes hidden mashed vegetable puree in foods like roti and pulao, there are also times when you go to the extent of making smiley faces or shapes using veggies.

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

For this vegetable kootu, 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 flavouring that is added that helps bring all the vegetables together really well, the use of grated coconut gives it a light taste.

How to make Kootu?

To make this kootu, first 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 flavour 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 ad mixed together.

This curry or kootu can be served with both rice and chapatti; you could make it of 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.

Here is how to make Kootu Curry.

Mix Veg Kootu Video Recipe

Kootu Curry Recipe

5 from 7 votes

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Kootu

Kootu 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 festivals. 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 218 kcal

Author Neha Mathur

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Tuvar Dal
• 2 tbsp Peanuts
• Salt to taste

For Vegetables

• 1/2 cup carrot Chopped
• 1/2 cup Beans Chopped
• 1/2 cup Potato Peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Cubed
• 1/2 cup Madras Cucumber Cubed
• 1/4 cup Peas
• 1/2 cup Water
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

For grinding into a paste

• 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
• 1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 3-4 Dry Red Chillies
• 2 tsp Chana Dal
• 1/4 cup Fresh Coconut Grated

For tempering

• 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 tsp Urad Dal
• 10-12 Curry Leaves

Instructions

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

2. Pressure cook until dal is nicely cooked.

3. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release.

4. Mash the dal and keep it aside.

5. 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.

6. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release.

7. Keep the cooked vegetables aside.

8. Heat vegetable oil in a pan.

9. Add coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and chana dal and fry until they turn slightly brown.

10. Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool.

11. Add the mixture in a grinder along with coconut and some water and grind to make smooth paste.

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

13. Add more water if required.

14. 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.

15. For tempering, heat vegetable oil in a pan.

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

17. Pour the tempering over the kootu and mix well.

18. Serve hot with rice or chapati.

Nutrition Facts

Kootu

Amount Per Serving

Calories 218 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Sodium 73mg3%

Potassium 630mg18%

Carbohydrates 22g7%

Fiber 8g33%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 10g20%

Vitamin A 4395IU88%

Vitamin C 108.4mg131%

Calcium 72mg7%

Iron 4.5mg25%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.