Sorakkai Tomato Kootu

Sorakkai Tomato Kootu

 Kootu is an authentic tamilian item almost served as a side dish in any Tamilian Thali, Weddings or during special occasions. We can make kootu with different kinds of vegetables but watery vegetables like Chayote ( Chow Chow ), Sorakai, White Pumpkin, Snake Gourd are best suited. The gravy base for the Kootu is mostly coconut based and an addition of cooked moong dal / Payatham Paruppu makes it more richer. I am a big Kootu fan and always have a tendency to include this in my regular menu itself. Also we could eat this Kootu ( if there's any leftover..) with hot chappathis too...

Ingredients

Sorakaya / Bottle Gourd - 1 Medium

Tomato - 1 Big

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1 Handful

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Salt - To Taste
Sugar - A small pinch

For the Gravy

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 2 tbsp

Green Chillies - 2 Medium

For the Tadka / Tempering

Oil - 3 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 7 or 8

Method

• Peel the skin off and cut the Bottle Gourd into small cubes. Pressure cook the Sorakaya Pieces along with tomato pieces, Moong Dal, turmeric powder and little Hing for 2 whistles.
• Meantime, make the gravy by grinding the above mentioned ingredients and keep it ready.
• After the cooker cools down, add the gravy paste into the cooked kootu.
• Add required amount of salt and a pinch of sugar to the Kootu and allow to boil for few minutes.
• In a separate tadka pan, add oil and all the ingredients for the tempering and pour them on top of the Kootu.
• Serve this with hot rice or hot chappathis.

Celery Thogayal / Celery Pachidi / Celery Chutney

Celery Thogayal / Celery Pachidi / Celery Chutney

Celery Chutney/Thogayal/Pachidi was made only due to the unavailability of my regular chutney items like coconut, tomato, groundnuts, onion..at home. .All I had was only few bunches of Celery and Coriander stems which i stored in the refrigerator..And I very badly need to make some good healthy chutney for my Pongal and Dosa for the day..So, I decided to make use of  these Celery Sticks which have very less calories and more dietary fiber and they are highly recommended for weight loss. Though its best to eat raw Celery Sticks, this time I used them in our regular cuisine. The Chutney was really tasty but it would be an excellent side for our Idlies. Try to substitute this chutney during breakfast time with your regular chutney and enjoy this healthy chutney with any South Indian Tiffin items. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Ingredients

Celery Sticks - 1 Full Bunch ( Cut Celery Sticks come up to 3-4 Cups )

Coriander Stems - 1 Cup

Green Chillies - 2

Ginger - 1 Small Square

Red Chilli - 1

Tamarind - 1 small square

Jaggery - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Powder - 2 tsp

Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5.

Method

1. Wash the coriander stem, celery sticks and cut them into pieces.
2. Grind them raw with green chillies, red chilli, ginger, tamarind and make a coarse paste.
3. In the frying pan, add oil first. Finish the tempering by adding little Hing,Mustard seeds and Urad dal.
4. Pour the grounded paste and add required amount of salt to the chutney.
5. Fry them in the pan till it becomes little thicker and comes to the chutney consistency.
6. Good to enjoy with hot idlies, dosa, Pongal or even with Hot rice alone.

Tips/Variations

1. As its my first trial on Celery, I don't find any tips or any variations which I could suggest at this time.You can customize in your style and try this out...But Celery is definitely an ideal choice for any cooking.