Keerai Kootu
- 41 min
- mild
- Serves 4
Keerai kootu with spinach, moong dal and coconut, cooked with a coarse cumin paste and pressure-cooked dal. Mild, serves 4, about 50 minutes.
You’ll need: Pressure Cooker
Good for: Tamil New Year, Onam
Ingredients
Moong Dal80 grams
Water, For Cooking360 ml
Spinach, Finely Chopped300 grams
Turmeric Powder1 grams
Salt1 tsp
Coconut (Grated)40 grams
Cumin1 tsp
Oil2 tsp
Mustard Seeds¾ tsp
Urad Dal (split)¾ tsp
Dry Red Chilli1 grams
Asafoetida0.3 grams
Contains: wheat.
Nutrition
Per 1 person, and for all 4 people. Worked out from the ingredients, so treat it as a close guide.
| Nutrient | Per 1 person | All 4 people |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 159kcal | 636kcal |
| Protein | 7.3g | 29g |
| Carbohydrate | 18g | 72g |
| Fat | 7g | 28g |
| Fibre | 6.4g | 26g |
| Sugar | 1g | 4g |
Method
Get ready by picking the spinach leaves and removing damaged leaves and thick stems. Wash the leaves repeatedly to remove all sand, drain well and finely chop them.
Pressure cook the rinsed moong dal with 240 ml of the water in a small pressure cooker for 2 whistles, about 8 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally for 5 minutes, then open and mash the dal lightly until soft. Reserve the remaining 120 ml water for the spinach.
Cook the chopped spinach with the reserved 120 ml water, turmeric and half the salt in a kadai on medium flame for 5 minutes. Stir once or twice until the leaves wilt and the stems are tender.
Grind the grated coconut, cumin and 80 ml water in a mixie for 2 minutes until smooth. Scrape down the sides once so there are no coarse coconut pieces.
Add the mashed dal, coconut paste and remaining salt to the cooked spinach. Simmer on low flame for 3 minutes, stirring often, until the kootu is thick and the raw coconut smell goes.
Heat oil in a small tempering pan on medium flame for 2 minutes. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle, then add urad dal, dry red chilli and asafoetida. Fry for 1 minute until the urad dal is light golden, pour it over the kootu and mix well.
Before you start
- How long does Keerai Kootu take?
- 41 minutes from start to finish. That is 15 minutes of preparation and 26 minutes of cooking.
- How many people does Keerai Kootu serve?
- 4. The ingredient quantities on this page rescale if you are cooking for a different number.
- Is Keerai Kootu vegetarian?
- Yes. No meat, no fish and no egg.
- Is Keerai Kootu spicy?
- It is mild: 1 on our scale of 3. Chilli scales gently when you change the servings, so doubling the recipe does not double the heat.
- What do I need to make Keerai Kootu?
- 80 grams Moong Dal, 300 grams Spinach, 1 grams Turmeric Powder, 40 grams Coconut (Grated), 1 grams Dry Red Chilli, 0.3 grams Asafoetida, and a few more listed on this page.
- Do I need a pressure cooker for Keerai Kootu?
- Yes, this one is cooked under pressure.
- How many calories are in Keerai Kootu?
- About 159 a serving. The full nutrition table is on this page, per serving and for the whole batch.
Tips from other cooks
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