BOTTLE GOURD WITH LENTILS – Sorakkai Kootu

BOTTLE GOURD WITH LENTILS – Sorakkai Kootu

Kootu is a comon South Indian recipe made using vegetables and lentils. It is light, healthy and tasty recipe. I am preparing bottle gourd(sorakkai) kootu today. You can use other vegetables like snake gourd or chow chow also for this kootu. It goes well with Vatha kuzhambu or any other kara kuzhambu recipes. Basically we do not add any kind of tangy ingredients to this recipe, So it goes well with any spicy and tangy main course.

SERVING SUGGESTION :

• Serve with chapati / Roti
• Serve as a side dish for rice with any kuzhambu varieties or rasam.
• Serve with hot rice with a Tsp of sesame oil/ ghee and any Thogayal.

---

AUTHOR : Dimple                           CUISINE : South Indian
COURSE : Side Course                    YIELD : 2-3 Servings

---

INGREDIENTS :

• Bottle gourd / Sorakkai – 1 (app. 2.5 cups chopped)
• Split yellow Moong dal – 3-4 Tbsp
• Water – as needed
• Salt – as needed
• Turmeric – 1/4 Tsp
• Oil – 1/2 Tsp

For Grinding :

• Coconut Slices/ grated coconut – 3-4 Tbsp
• Poppy seeds – 3/4 Tsp
• Green chilli – 3 or 4
• Fennel seeds – 1/2 Tsp
• Water – as needed

For Tempering :

• Oil – 1/2 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 Tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 Tsp
• Hing – small pinch
• Curry leaves – 4 or 5

PREPARATION :

1. Wash and soak moong dal for 15 min.
2. Peel the bottle gourd skin, wash and chop it. Remove seeds if needed.

PROCEDURE :

1. In a pan add soaked moong dal and enough water (app. 3/4 cup) for cooking it.
2. Cook over medium heat. Add some turmeric and little oil while cooking.
3. Cook until moong dal is half cooked(nearly 5-7 min).
4. Add chopped bottle gourd and salt. Combine well and cover it with a lid.
5. Let it get cooked completely. During this cooking time grind the coconut paste with given ingredients.
6. Add the coconut paste when veges are cooked. Add water if needed.
7. Cover and cook for 5 min or until the raw smell of green chilli goes off.
8. In a separate pan heat oil and temper with given ingredients.
9. Add this tempering to our recipe and combine well.
10. Turn off the heat.

NOTES :

• Remove the bottle gourd seeds only if they are bigger in size. If you have small sized seeds you need not to remove this while chopping.
• Kootu should be in a semi gravy consistency.
• You can add a Tbsp or rice flour instead of poppy seeds.
• You can pressure cook bottle gourd and lentils with enough water for 2 whistles instead of open pan cooking.
• It is not a good side dish for sambar.

Do try this recipe at home and let me know how it turned out for you. Share your comments down below in the comment section.

If you found this post worthy, kindly share this with your friends and like my Facebook page for updates Facebook Follow me on Twitter and Instagram 

Step by Step Procedure with pictures :