Cabbage beans kootu

My friend has been making kootu for quite some time.Almost once every week.I asked her for the recipe & made it myself one day.It was liked by all.I mixed tur & moong dal in equal ratio.

Ingredients : 1/4 cup moong dal ,1/4 cup tur dal, 1/2 cup chopped cabbage, 1/4 cup beans cut in 1/2 inch pieces,1-2 green chillies,1 spring of kadipatta( curry leaves ),1 tsp cumin or jeera,3-4 peppercorns,1/4 tsp haldi ,1/4 tsp hing,salt to taste

Method : Wash moong & tur dal & add the cabbage & beans to it.Add water,haldi & hing  to this mixture & pressure cook for two whistles.Then lower the flame & cook on slow gas for 5-10 minutes.Let the cooker cool.

In the mixer ,grind  coconut,green chillies,peppercorns,kadipatta & jeera till it becomes a coarse powder.One can opt to make it into fine powder.I prefer little coarse.Keep aside.

Take the dal mix with the veggies into another vessel & add the ground mixture to it.Add salt.Bring this whole mixture to a boil on the gas.The kootu is ready.It is good for rotis as also rice.

Optional : One can make seasoning of oil ,mustard seeds & red chillies to add to the kootu.I prefer kootu without seasoning as cumin,coconut & other spices are already part of the kootu.

Optional Tip : I added vagar of mustard seeds, urad dal & byadgi mirchi to the kootu though it tastes well without vagar.That is how , in the snap above, the byadgi mirchi seems to be peeping out from the kootu in the katori.

Beet root sabzi

Beetroot is a good source of calcium.This is a very simple recipe .I like the sweet taste of beetroot.

Ingredients : 2-3 medium beetroots,1tsp mustard seeds,1 -2 bydagi chilly ( a dry red chilli variety ) ,1tbsp oil,1/2 tsp urad dal,1/4 tsp hing,1 sprig of kadipatta leaves,1 tbsp fresh grated coconut ,salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the beet roots for 3-4 whistles or more.beetroot is a hard  vegetable & hence pressure  cooked in cooker ).After the cooker has cooled,remove the beetroots .Peel them with bare hands after washing them in tap water to cool them.

Chop them into roughly into cubes.Keep aside.In a pan heat oil.Add mustard seeds.When they splutter add urad dal.Let the urad dal turn golden brown.Add broken byadgi mirchi pieces & kadipatta.Saute them both in the oil.Now add the chopped beetroot & saute them for 1-2 minutes.Cook covered with a lid for 5 minutes.If the veggies is still hard -check by a knife by trying to poke into the veggie ) ,add a little water & cook for some more time.Add salt & mix nicely.In the end add fresh coconut & cook for 2 minutes.Put off the gas.Serve with chappatis or rice.