Lauki Kootu -Bottle Gourd and Chana dal in spiced coconut paste

Today is the 6th day of the blogging marathon. I made a simple kootu using bottle gourd/lauki.  Its a simple recipe and with pressure cooking, it gets done relatively easier.

You need

• Bottle gourd, chopped into bite size - 2 cups
• Chana dal - 1/4 cup
• Turmeric - a pinch
• salt to taste

To grind

• Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
• Red chilly - 1 no
• Cumin - 1/2 tspn

To temper

• Oil - 1 tspn
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Urad dal - 1/2 tspn

• Curry leaves - 1 stalk.

Method.

Cook chana dal, chopped bottle gourd and turmeric with just enough water to cover the ingredients. The chana dal should be cooked soft and not mushy. Drain the excess water after cooking.

Take a kadai. Add the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds crackle, add the cooked lauki and chana dal. Add salt and let it cook for 5 minutes or so. 

Grind coconut, red chilly and cumin to paste with out adding water. Add the ground paste to the cooked lauki and dal. Mix well and let it cook so that the excess water dries up.  Finally add the curry leaves and remove from fire. This goes very well with sambhar or morkootan.

Don't miss out the treats dished out by my fellow marathoners.