Rice with Lentil and mixed Vegetables / Kootan Choru

Kootan Choru (Rice with Lentil and mixed Vegetables) is a healthy rice preparation with lot of vegetables. This is a typical recipe from the Tamilnadu region especially from my hometown of Tirunelveli. People confuse and consider Kadamba Sadam and Koottan Choru as one and the same. Both the dishes use almost same ingredients, but the cooking method is different. This recipe uses leaves from the Drumstick tree also. It is difficult to get these leaves in Mumbai. Luckily I got it today and this recipe that I learnt from my mother came to mind 🙂 This one pot dish is chockful of nutrition and deliciousness!

Ingredients

Rice – 1 cup

Tur Dal – ¾ cup

Tamarind – 1 small lemon size

Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric (Haldi) Powder – ½ tsp

Dhania (Coriander) Powder – 1 tsp

Oil – 1 tsp to sauté the vegetables

Vegetables:

Potato – 1

Raw Plantain – 1

Brinjal – 2

Carrot (small) -1

Drum Stick Leaves – 2 cup (tightly packed)

Aavarakkai (Papdi) – 10

Onion – 1 (cut into cubes)

Green Chilli – 2 (sliced)

Tomato – 1 (cut into cubes)

For Grinding:

Coconut Grated – ¾ cup

Cumin Seed – 1 tsp

Onion – 1 or Shallots – 10 Nos (Shallots is preferred)

For Tempering:

Oil – 2 tbsp

Rai (Mustard) – 1 tbsp

Urad Dal (Split Black Gram) – 1 tbsp

Curry Leaves – from 3 twigs

Asafoetida (Hing) – ¼ tsp

Method

Clean and cut all the vegetables into big cubes

Grind all the ingredients given under “for grinding” into a coarse consistency.

Soak Tamarind in ½ cup of water and extract the juice and discard the pulp. Soak the Rice and Tur Dal In water for 30 minutes.

Heat 1 tsp Oil in a pressure cooker. Add Onion and Green Chillies. Stir for a minute.

Add the Chopped Tomato. Mix them.

Add all the vegetables. Add a spoon of Salt. Mix all of them well and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder and Coriander Seed Powder. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the Rice and Dal (after draining the water that was used for soaking). Mix well.

Add ground Coconut paste, Tamarind and water (3 times the volume of Rice and Dal). Add Salt. Allow them to boil.

Add the Drumstick Leaves. Allow to boil for another 2 to 3 minutes.

In the meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of Oil in a small pan. Add Black Gram. When the Black Gram becomes light brown in color, add the Curry leaves and switch off the flame. Add Asafoetida immediately. Stir them and pour into the Rice and Dal which are cooking in the pressure cooker.

Cover the cooker with lid and weight valve and cook for a couple of whistles in medium flame. Reduce the flame and leave for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame.

Open the lid after the steam goes off on its own. The vegetables should be soft. If not, pressure cook little more.

Done! Serve piping hot with papad and pickle.

Note: French Beans, Green Peas, Pumpkin and Yam are also vegetables which can be used for this recipe.