There is nothing like a wholesome meal of rice mixed with saaru/rasam or sambar/huLi/kootu. Imagine hot sambar/kootu on rice with some ghee on top, that is a great combination. Kootu is a Karnataka style masale huLi/sambar, it is made with freshly roasted spices and ground with freshly grated coconut. Kootu also has a special type of tadka/vaggarne/tempering generally with groundnuts added to it. Any kind of vegetable can be used, doodhi/white pumpkin or mixed vegetables like carrots and beans can also be used instead of lauki/sorekayi.
Sorekayi Kootu | Sorekayi Masale Kootu | Lauki Masala Kootu
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Hot, spicy kootu with sorekayi/lauki
Author: Vindhya Desai
Recipe type: Lunch
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4 people for lunch
Ingredients
For Masala:
- 1 Tsp edible coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp dhania/coriander seeds
- ½ Tsp jeera/cumin
- 7-8 black peppercorn
- ½ Tbsp raw rice (sona masuri variety or any regular rice used to make steamed rice)
- ½ Tbsp chana dal/kadale beLe/gram dal
- 2-3 Dry red chilli/sukha lal mirch
- ¼ Tsp methi/menthya/fenugreek
- A small crystal of hing or a pinch of powdered hing
- 4-5 curry leaves/karibevu
- ¼ Cup packed freshly grated coconut
For Kootu:
- 300-350 Gm or ½ of medium sized lauki/sorekayi
- ½ Cup toor dal/pigeon pea dal/togari beLe
- ½ Tsp haldi/turmeric
- A pinch of hing/asafoetida
- Pulp of lemon sized ball of tamarind or ½ Tbsp tamarind paste
- Small piece of jaggery/bella/gur (1/2 lemon sized)
- Salt to taste
For Tadka/Tempering:
- ½ Tbsp edible coconut oil
- 1 Tsp urad dal/uddina beLe
- A small pinch of hing
- 3-4 curry leaves
- ½ Tsp rai/mustard/saasuve
- 2 Tbsp groundnuts/kadale beeja/shenga
Method
- Clean and wash toor dal atleast twice. Add 2½ to 3 Cups of water and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles or boil till soft and done
- While dal is cooking, prepare lauki. Peel and chop to ½" cubes or dices
- Boil sorekayi/lauki with water just covering them. Cover the pan and cook till sorekayi are just soft
- In a pan, heat coconut oil for making masala. Add all ingredients except grated coconut and curry leaves
- Fry masala till lightly golden on low-medium flame
- Add curry leaves and fry for a minute. Turn off heat and allow masala mixture to cool
- In a mixer grinder, add grated coconut
- Add cooled masala ingredients, add water as required and grind to a paste
- Mash dal lightly and keep aside
- To boiled sorekayi, add masala paste
- Add turmeric, jaggery, tamarind and mix well
- Add salt and mix well
- Add cooked dal into the sorekayi-masala mixture and mix well
- Let it come to a slow boil
- In a pan, heat coconut oil for tadka/vaggarne. Add mustard let it splutter
- Add urad dal and hing, fry till dal turns light golden
- Add groundnuts and fry till groundnuts lightly change colour and appear crispy. Add curry leaves and fry for a minute
- Pour this tadka over boiled kootu. Mix well
- Serve hot with steamed rice and some happala/sandige
Notes
Do not overcook sorekayi. Boil them outside till just soft. They will further cook with the dal when it is boiled
Adding rice along with the roasted spices gives a thick consistency to the kootu
Sunflower/Groundnut oil can also be used in place of coconut oil
The masala can be roasted previous day and ground with grated coconut next day to save time
Adding rice along with the roasted spices gives a thick consistency to the kootu
Sunflower/Groundnut oil can also be used in place of coconut oil
The masala can be roasted previous day and ground with grated coconut next day to save time
Stepwise:
Clean and wash toor dal atleast twice. Add 2 1/2 to 3 Cups of water and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles or boil till soft and done
While dal is cooking, prepare lauki. Peel and chop to 1/2" cubes or dices
Boil sorekayi/lauki with water just covering them. Cover the pan and cook till sorekayi are just soft
In a pan, heat coconut oil for making masala. Add all ingredients except grated coconut and curry leaves
Fry masala till lightly golden on low-medium flame
Add curry leaves and fry for a minute. Turn off heat and allow masala mixture to cool
In a mixer grinder, add grated coconut
Add cooled masala ingredients, add water as required and grind to a paste
Mash dal lightly and keep aside
To boiled sorekayi, add masala paste
Add turmeric, jaggery, tamarind and mix well
Add salt and mix well
Add cooked dal into the sorekayi-masala mixture and mix well
Let it come to a slow boil
In a pan, heat coconut oil for tadka/vaggarne. Add mustard let it splutter
Add urad dal and hing, fry till dal turns light golden
Add groundnuts and fry till groundnuts lightly change colour and appear crispy. Add curry leaves and fry for a minute
Pour this tadka over boiled kootu. Mix well
Serve hot with steamed rice and some happala/sandige
