Vegetable Koottu: 15-Min Recipe

Chef Roopa Nabar suggests a recipe of Vegetable Koottu, a nourishing, warming South Indian stew with coconut milk and a selection of vegetables like beans, pumpkin, for slow, rainy evenings.

Ingredients

• 1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
• ½ cup drumsticks, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ cup French beans, diagonally cut
• ½ cup gavar or cluster beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

Ingredients, continued

• 1 cup peeled, diced kadu or pumpkin
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp rai or mustard seeds
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds

Ingredients, continued

• 1 tsp hing or asafoetida
• ½ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium-sized tomato, finely chopped

Ingredients, continued

• 4 dried red chillies
• 1 tbsp brown dhania or coriander powder
• Salt to taste, about ½ tsp
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1 cup water + extra for grinding the masala paste

Method

• Heat the oil in a saucepan or a kadhai over medium heat.
  Add the rai, ½ tsp of the jeera, hing and let splutter.
  Then add ¼ tsp of the haldi, stir, sauté.
  Add the onion and sauté till translucent.

Method, continued

• Add the tomato, mix, turn heat down and cook till soft.
• Meanwhile, grind the red chillies, dhania, remaining jeera, remaining haldi in a mixer/blender, with a little water, to a fine paste.
  Add the ground paste into the sauteed onion-tomato mixture and mix well.

Method, continued

• Now add the potatoes, drumsticks, French beans, gavar and 1 cup water, cover, cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
  Add the kadu, salt and cook till the kadu turns soft.
  Lastly add the coconut milk, stir, mix, cover and simmer for 2 minutes.

Method, continued

• Take off heat and serve hot with steamed rice, pickle and appalams (rice papad).

Recipe courtesy TTK Prestige