Appala Kootu / Kadala Paruppu Kootu With Potato & Papad ~ A Virtual B'day Treat for Vardhini !

Today is My dear friend Vardhini's Birthday whom i know for more than two years. So caring and lovable friend, am so blessed to have her as my friend. Some of our characters & attitude are similar and its also one of the reason for our strong friendship. I love & admire her work she put for her space, CooksJoy. She is one of my inspiration and am a big fan of her Props, Pictures. In Cooksjoy you could find all sorts of vegetarian recipes from around the world. I have tried few recipes from her space and liked it a lot. Today am happy that i again get a chance to cook a Vegan recipe from her space to Celebrate her Birthday virtually with some of our friends.

On Your Special Day, I wish For U...

May all your Dreams & Wishes Come True..

Have a Very Happy Birthday !!!

Broccoli Spinach Kootu / Broccoli Spinach Lentil Curry

Kootu/lentil based Veg curry is one of the most comfort & a must dish in a complete South Indian Lunch Platter. Kootu can be made in different ways n with combo of lentils like channa dal n moongdal or with only moongdal or channa dal or even made healthy with the addition of legumes like chickpeas, peas etc. I love kootu with coconut more than the kootu without coconut. Today's Broccoli Spinach Kootu is also a coconut based easy n simple kootu recipe. Its my long time wish to try our family favorite veg, Broccoli in our South Indian preparations like sambar, kootu, poriyal, rasam(yep..y not a rasam?! Recipe coming up soon)

Bottle gourd Chickpeas Curry / Sorakkai Kondakadalai Kootu(With Peanuts & Spices) - Announcing Vegan Thursday

We a group of food bloggers started a new event and named it as Vegan Thursdays, this event starts from today. The main motto of this event is to share vegan dishes from any cuisine. Most of our Indian foods are vegan, obviously most of our daily routine foods we make or eat are vegan without our knowlegde.
Veganism means abstaining from the use of animal porducts. Vegan peoples dont use dairy products,eggs,and any other animal derived substances like honey in their cooking.So we a bunch of food bloggers will be showcasing our vegan foods during thursdays, this event will held twice a month. We will be posting the first week's thursday and last week's thursday of every month. This Vegan Thursday dont have any theme and the choice of the recipes prepared by each blogger being part of this event depend upon their choice.
Anyone interested in joining us, please leave your email id in the comment section and we will contact you.

Poosanikkai Puli Kootu / Puli Kootu Recipe / Tangy Ash gourd & Lentils Curry

Today's recipe is a south Indian traditional recipe, very healthy and filling side dish made using lentils and ash gourd. This is a tamarind based curry and i first time tried this recipe from Vardhini's CooksJoy. This recipe was recommended to me by my sister who is one of Vardhini's follower :) We usually make kootu without tamarind and i had already posted a 3 different version of koottu. This Puli kottu is entirely different from my family version and so my sister wanted to try this recipe using cluster beans as per the original recipe. And it was liked by her family members and she recommended me to try this kootu. So without any second thought I tried this puli kootu with poosanikkai and it turned out so good, even my little one liked it with rice. Thanks Vardhini for this yummy recipe, we loved it!

Podalangai Kootu / Snake Gourd Kootu with Moong dal

Today's recipe is very easy and comfort recipe, South Indian Special Kootu with Snake gourd/Podalangai  and moong dal combo. This kootu is little different from my Cabbage kottu(with Coconut) and Chow Chow/chayote Kootu(without coconut). I love Snake gourd and its one of my fav veg, but for the past 4 years i did not cooked this Snake gourd/Podalangai and few weeks back happened saw it very fresh n green in Indian Grocery. Then immediately picked two medium gourds and with one i made this scrumptious kootu and another one i made stir fry(posting soon). This recipe involves simple preparation and tastes so yummy with plain rice and rotis too. I just love it with curd rice, Mmmmmm!!
Do try this recipe, am sure you will love it. The recipe as follows:

Chayote Moongdal Kootu / Chow Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentils Curry(without Coconut)

This is a simple and easy to make kootu. A healthy, low calorie and delicious side dish that makes a comfort meal with rice or with some warm rotis. Instead of chayote you can also use any available vegetable like ash gourd, radish, bottle guord, turnip, cabbage and i did not use coconut in this recipe so its suitable for diet and diabetic people. A complete vegan healthy side dish perfect for kids also. 

This can also be done with 2 tbsp of chana dal combo, the updated pic is made with combo of both Moongdal and chana dal.

Cabbage Kootu / Cabbage Lentils Coconut Curry / Cabbage Dal Curry

Ingredients

1. Chana dal/split peas 1/4 cup
2. Moongdal/Yellow lentils 1/2 cup 
3. Cabbage 1 and 1/2 cup (chopped) 
4. Onion 1 small size 
5. Tomato 1 small size
6. Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp
7. Salt     to taste
8. Cilantro      few finely chopped to garnish

To Wet Grind

1. Coconut 1/4cup (shredded)
2. Green chillies 5 no.s 
3. Garlic flakes 1 no 
4. Ginger 1 inch 
5. Cumin seeds 1 tsp 
6. Pepper corns 1 tsp 
7. Dalia/Roasted gram dal 1 tbsp

for tempering

• Mustard seeds  1tsp
• Dry red chilli     1 no.(broke)
• Curry leaves      1 twig
• Cumin seeds      1tsp
• Hing                  1/4 tsp or more
• Oil /ghee            2 tsp

Method

• Grind the ingredients under the heading "To Wet Grind" using little water to a smooth paste n keep aside. 
• Chop the vegetables and keep ready. 

• Cook chana dal & moongdal together with 2-3 cups of water using turmeric powder when it is 3/4th done, add vegetables and ground coconut paste. 

• Mix well add necessary salt and cook covered till the raw smell of the masala goes off. 

• Now in a small pan heat oil and add all tempering items one by one. 
• then add the tempering to the kootu/curry . 
• Cabbage kootu is ready.It goes well with rice, rotis n dosa.

Note:
this koottu can be done with chana dal alone or moongdal alone but the combo gives nice taste.
instead of cabbage u can also add, chayote, turnip, radish, bottle gourd and ash gourd or any deisred vegetables.