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Home » Side Dishes » Kootu

Published: Sep 26, 2013 · Modified: Feb 15, 2021 by Sandhya Ramakrishnan · This post may contain affiliate links

Vellarikkai Kootu / Cucumber Stew

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Vellarikkai Kootu is an excellent side for eating with rice. Cucumbers that are mature and not that good to eat, can be excellent for this Cucumber Stew.

Vellarikkai Kootu in a bowl

This was yet another year with a very good yield of cucumbers from our backyard. My husband came up with this wonderful idea of building a trellis for the cucumbers and ever since then the fruits are straight instead of curved.

In spite of my kids eating them raw, I still have a lot of it leftover. Also, certain cucumbers are left a couple of days more in the plant and they become slightly overripe.

Those are the cucumbers that go into making this Cucumber Stew. Cucumbers that mature too much develop a lot of seeds inside them and they are not a lot of fun to eat raw. So I use those up to make this kootu after scooping out all the seeds.

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Taste wise these taste more or like the chow chow (Choyote squash). I also freeze the excess cucumbers and use them later to make this kootu. This is a very comforting kootu with minimal ingredients and tastes great with rice and dollop of nei (ghee) on top. This is my recipe for the alphabet V under the category regional.

Vellarikkai plants

Preparation time – 10 mins
Cooking time – 30 mins
Difficulty level – easy

Ingredients to make Vellarikkai Kootu – (serves 4)

  • Vellarikkai / Cucumber – 1 large or 2 medium
  • Payatham paruppu / Moong dal – ¼ cup
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • Green chilies – 2
  • Coconut – ½ cup (grated)
  • Rice – 1 tsp
  • Salt – to taste
  • Cilantro – to garnish

To season –

  • Oil – 1 teaspoon (preferably coconut oil)
  • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
  • Ullatham paruppu/ urad dal – 1 tsp
  • Red chilies – 2
  • Asafetida – ¼ tsp
  • Curry leaves – few

Procedure to make Vellarikkai Kootu –

  • Scrape the skin of the cucumber and slice it vertically. Remove the seeds (if they are too big) and then chop the cucumbers into small cubes.
  • Wash the dal and add it along with the cucumber in a sauce pan. Add water just to cover the vegetable and then cook over medium heat.
Washing the ingredients in a  bowl for Cucumber Stew
Cooking the ingredients in a bowl
  • In the meantime, grind together the green chilies, cumin seeds, rice and the coconut into a smooth paste.
Grinding the ingredients in mixer
  • Once the vegetable and the dal are cooked, add salt required for the kootu. Now add the ground paste and bring it to a boil. The rice in the paste will help thicken the coconut.
Boiling the ingredients
  • In a small pan, heat oil and add all the ingredients listed under the seasoning. Add the fried seasoning to the kootu and serve hot with rice topped with a dollop of nei!
Seasoning the ingredients for Cucumber Stew in a pan
Served in a bowl Vellarikkai Kootu

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

 If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter

Vellarikkai Kootu / Cucumber Stew in a bowl

Vellarikkai Kootu / Cucumber Stew

Vellarikkai Kootu is an excellent side for eating with rice. Cucumbers that are mature and not that good to eat, can be excellent for this Cucumber Stew.
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Course: Lunch Recipes, Quick and Easy, Side Dishes
Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 117kcal
Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

  • pan
  • Pot
  • Grinder
  • spatula

Ingredients

  • 1 large Vellarikkai / Cucumber or 2 medium
  • ¼ cup Payatham paruppu / Moong dal
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
  • 2 Green chilies
  • ½ cup Coconut grated
  • 1 teaspoon Rice
  • to taste Salt
  • to garnish Cilantro

To season –

  • 1 teaspoon Oil preferably coconut oil
  • ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Ullatham paruppu/ urad dal
  • 2 Red chilies
  • ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
  • few Curry leaves

Instructions

  • Scrape the skin of the cucumber and slice it vertically. Remove the seeds (if they are too big) and then chop the cucumbers into small cubes.
  • Wash the dal and add it along with the cucumber in a sauce pan. Add water just to cover the vegetable and then cook over medium heat.
  • In the meantime, grind together the green chilies, cumin seeds, rice and the coconut into a smooth paste.
  • Once the vegetable and the dal are cooked, add salt required for the kootu. Now add the ground paste and bring it to a boil. The rice in the paste will help thicken the coconut.
  • In a small pan, heat oil and add all the ingredients listed under the seasoning. Add the fried seasoning to the kootu and serve hot with rice topped with a dollop of nei!

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 83mg | Potassium: 149mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 148IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Archana Potdar says

    October 18, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    Sounds interesting. Love your pics.

    Reply
  2. Pavani N says

    October 07, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    Kootu with cucumber sounds new and interesting.

    Reply
  3. Padmajha PJ says

    October 05, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    Love the garden pics Sandhya. Kootu with cucumber is new to me, never tried it before. Looks great!

    Reply
  4. Preeti Garg says

    October 01, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    Kootu with cucumber... look nice and flavorful

    Reply
  5. Sapana Behl says

    September 29, 2013 at 4:27 pm

    Cucumber Kuttu looks so yummy ! It's nice to grow veggies in your backyard.

    Reply
  6. Rajani S says

    September 28, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    That's our lunch tomm. Growing vegetables in garden is really a boon. The koottu is easy to make and taste so good

    Reply
  7. Nivedhanams Sowmya says

    September 27, 2013 at 6:32 am

    yummy kootu.. have tried vellarikkai kootu only once and it was delicious!!

    Sowmya

    Reply
  8. Manjula Bharath says

    September 26, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    wow very very delicious cucumber kootu 🙂 looks super yummy !!

    Reply
  9. Priya Suresh says

    September 26, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    Love this kootu very much, none at home like this..Obviously its been ages i had this.

    Reply
  10. Srivalli says

    September 26, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    Getting fresh from garden is such a boon..very lovely ones Sandhya..and a nice kootu too, makes the meal very healthy right..

    Reply

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I am Sandhya Ramakrishnan, author, recipe developer and photographer in this journey! 'My Cooking Journey' is all about family friendly Vegetarian and Vegan recipes from around the World with focus on Indian cuisine.

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