Kootu Curry – Traditional Kerala Onam &Vishu Sadya Recipe

I told you a few weeks ago about upcoming Onam recipes here, remember? This Kootu Curry – Traditional Kerala Onam &Vishu Sadya Recipe, is quite close to my heart, since it has my fav veggies Chena (yam) and kaya (Raw plantain). If you don’t count the prep work of veggies, this recipe is easy to make. I used frozen yam for this. I was using it for the first time and I’m pretty happy with it. Since it was already cleaned and diced, half my work was done!

Well, what to say about this dish.. it’s a typical Kerala veggie dish loaded with coconut :) If you havent tasted it yet, I recommend you to try this. I like the texture of this dish. It’s a mix of three different elements… you’ve mashed veggies in there, then the chana gives a small crunchy texture and the slight grainy texture from the coarse coconut paste. Somehow all this works very well to give a balanced dish!

Kootu Curry always give me a sadya feeling. If you are like me, who makes only a mini sadya and not the full fledged version, you can include this in your mini version for the “sadya effect” :)

You can see other sadya recipes here.

Here you go with the step by step pics…

Pressure cook the soaked black chana with 1.5 cups water till it’s done. Drain the excess water…

Grind together coconut, 3 small onion, 2 green chillies, 1/2 tsp ginger, cumin,1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilli powder and 2 tbsp water to a coarse paste…

Cook together the diced yam and raw plantain with 1.5 cups water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt. Bring it to a boil and simmer till it’s cooked and three-fourth of the water is dried. Add cooked chana to this and mix well…

Make a well in the centre of the veggie and chana mix. Add the coconut mixture to this. Cover the coconut mixture with the chana veggie mix. Cover and cook on low flame for 5-7 mins…

Heat oil in a pan and fry the coconut till it turns golden brown…

In the same pan, add little more oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add sliced small onion, dried red chilli and curry leaves. Fry till the onion turns golden brown…

Mash the veggies well. Add the fried coconut and tempering to the veggie mix…

Kootu Curry

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, Kerala

Keyword: chana kootu curry, Kerala kootu curry, kootu curry, Onam sadya kootu curry

Servings: 4 -5

Author: Maria Jose Martin

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup Black chickpeas (kadala) ( soaked overnight)
• ▢ 1 cup Yam (chena) ( diced)
• ▢ 1 cup Raw Plantain (pacha kaya) ( diced)
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• ▢ 1.5 cups Water
• ▢ 3/4 cup Grated coconut
• ▢ 3 Small onion / Shallots / Pearl Onion (chopped)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Chopped ginger
• ▢ 2 Green chilli (chopped)
• ▢ A pinch Cumin (optional, I didnt add)
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Chilli powder

To temper

• ▢ 3 Small onion/ Shallots / Pearl Onion (sliced)
• ▢ 2 Dried red chilli
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
• ▢ 2 tbsp Grated coconut
• ▢ Curry leaves
• ▢ Salt
• ▢ Coconut oil

Instructions

• ▢
  Pressure cook the soaked black chana with 1.5 cups water till it’s done, drain the excess water (refer notes).
• ▢
  Grind together coconut, 3 small onion, 2 green chillies, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, cumin (if using),1 tsp chilli powder and 2 tbsp water to a coarse paste.
• ▢
  Cook together the diced yam and raw plantain with 1.5 cups water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt. Bring it to a boil and simmer till it’s cooked and three-fourth of the water is dried. Add cooked chana to this and mix well.
• ▢
  Make a well in the centre of the veggie and chana mix. Add the coconut mixture to this. Cover the coconut mixture with the chana veggie mix. Cover and cook on low flame for 5-7 mins. Mix everything together. Taste and see whether more salt is required.
• ▢
  Heat oil in a pan and fry the coconut till it turns golden brown. Add this to the veggie chana mixture. In the same pan, add little more oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add sliced small onion, dried red chilli and curry leaves. Fry till the onion turns golden brown. Pour this over the veggie mix.

Notes

I pressure cooked the kadala for 7 whistles on high flame. Switch off the gas and keep the cooker closed till the pressure drops, around 15-20 mins. Open the cooker and drain excess water.

You can also use Vanpayar (red lobhia/cowpeas) instead of kadala for this recipe. Follow the same qty and method.

You can adjust the qty of coconut to suit your requirements. You can cook the kadala in advance and refrigerate for 3-4 days.

Tried this recipe? Let others know by…mentioning @mariasmenu or tagging #mariasmenu