South Indian
Kootu (Tamil Nadu Lentil and Vegetable Stew)
Kootu (Tamil Nadu Lentil and Vegetable Stew) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the protein alongside and the cooked vegetable. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup moong dal (split, husked)
- 2 cups mixed vegetables (chayote, carrot, beans)
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 cup grated coconut
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Pressure cook the moong dal with the turmeric and 1.5 cups of the water until soft, then set aside.
- Simmer the diced vegetables in the remaining water until just tender.
- Grind the coconut, cumin, and green chilies with a little water into a smooth paste, then stir it into the vegetables along with the cooked dal and salt.
- Simmer everything together for 5 minutes until it thickens into a soft, coconut-flecked stew.
- Heat the oil in a small pan, pop the mustard seeds, then fry the urad dal and curry leaves until golden, and pour the tempering over the kootu before serving.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Kootu (Tamil Nadu Lentil and Vegetable Stew), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The dish at the centre
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Kootu (Tamil Nadu Lentil and Vegetable Stew) carries coconut. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | Yes | Gongura Pappu (Andhra Sorrel Leaf Dal) |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses, Vegetables, and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Kootu (Tamil Nadu Lentil and Vegetable Stew) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on moong dal, coconut, and mixed vegetables.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.