Poosanikkai Kootu – White Pumpkin Kootu - Ash Gourd Kootu

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Poosanikkai Kootu – White Pumpkin Kootu - Ash Gourd Kootu

This Poosanikkai kootu or White Pumpkin Kootu is made the traditional South Indian way by cooking the vegetable in tamarind juice and then flavoring it with spices. Ash Gourd Kootu can be a good side for traditional white rice as lunch or dinner

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: dinner, Lunch Recipes

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: People

Calories: 149kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

Ingredients

3 cups Poosinikkai / white pumpkin/ash gourd Diced into ½ inch cubes
⅓ cup Tuvaram paruppu / Toor Dal
lime size piece Tamarind
1 can Chickpeas/ channa / Kondaikadalai 14 oz or about a handful of dry ones (optional)
½ teaspoon Sambhar powder
to taste Salt

TO ROAST AND GRIND –

2 tbsp. Kadalai paruppu / Bengal gram dal
1 tbsp. Coriander seeds
1 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu / urad dal
4 Red chilies
¼ cup Coconut Grated
1 teaspoon Oil

FOR SEASONING –

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu
few Curry leaves - few
a pinch Asafetida
1 teaspoon Oil

Instructions

Wash and cook the Tuvaram paruppu / toor dal in a pressure cooker until soft and mushy. Add a pinch of turmeric powder when cooking the dal.
If using dry chickpeas, soak it overnight in enough water and cook it also in the cooker along with the toor dal.
Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract its pulp. Squeeze it one more time and remove the juice.
Fry the ingredients mentioned under ‘to roast and grind’ in 1 teaspoon of oil. When it cools down a bit, grind it to a paste and keep it aside.
Wash, peel, and chop the pumpkin into small cubes. Add this to the pan along with the extracted tamarind pulp. Make sure that the tamarind extract covers the vegetable, if not add more water to cover the vegetable. Also add the cooked or the canned chick peas to this along with salt and sambhar powder and let it come to a boil over medium flame.
Let the vegetable cook well and then add the ground paste. Mix well and then add the cooked tuvar dal.
Let it come to a gentle boil and then simmer for a few minutes.
Heat a small pan with 1 teaspoon of oil and then add the seasoning ingredients. Add it to the simmering kootu and mix well. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice and a dollop of ghee.

Nutrition