Avarakkai Poricha Kootu

I love kootus and find them so wholesome and satisfying. Most of the time, I don't even need rice to go along with it and can eat it like a thick soup by itself. Poricha kootus are made more flavorful and have a different spice mixture going in than the usual kootus which typically have cumin + chillies + coconut. Several veggies will be suitable for this kootu and I chose to make a version with Avaraikkai (Broad beans/hyacinth beans).

AVARAKKAI PORICHA KOOTTU


Ingredients:
Avaraikkai - about 25-30 small ones, chopped into half inch pieces
Mung Dhal - 1/4 cup, toasted lightly
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida Powder - a couple pinches
Tamarind paste (thick) - 1/4 tsp (i used the canned one)
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds, Urad Dhal - 1/4 tsp each
Oil - 2 tsp

To Grind:
Red Chillies - 3
Urad dhal - 1 to 2 tsp
Black pepper - 6 peppercorns
Curry leaves - few
Roast the above in a tsp of oil and grind with
Shredded coconut - 3 tbsp to a paste with sufficient water.

Method:
1) Pressure cook mung dhal with sufficient water & turmeric till soft. Cook avarakkai with some salt & water separately till done. (Alternately this could be done as a separate layer in the cooker with no water alongwith the mung dhal).

2) When the veggies are done, add the tamarind paste, mung dhal and the ground paste and allow to cook for a few minutes till desired consistency is reached. Switch off the stove.

3) Heat the remaining one tsp of oil and season with mustard seeds, urad dhal, asafoetida & curry leaves and add to the kootu.

If koottus are not your thing, try this Avarakkai Aviyal - a tasty, dry curry.