This post is for my super-duper Amma and Appa who are "THE BEST" in this entire world. My Amma is a wonderful cook and I really admire her for the hard-work and concern she has in cooking. My Appa is always the greatest strength for her. In other words, its all about Team-work in my parents kitchen. My dad helps in prep work by cutting all the veggies and fruits - I have to mention here that if you take any measuring device to check the size of each little fragment of veggie/fruit, you'll be surprised to see how uniform each is..He's got a very special talent, it may be because he was an Engineer by profession. My mom takes utmost care in preparing the dishes and if it's festival time, she is alone by herself in the kitchen preparing tins and tins of stuff. I really feel guilty for not helping out...
This kootu I prepared for lunch today is an inspiration from my mom's cooking..To say the truth, all my recipes have come due to watching my mom cook with a smile and my dad helping out with a smile....
Keerai kootu:
I don't know the name of this keerai but found it for the first time in Indian store, it is similar to "manathakkali" keerai. Most of my cooking will not have exact measurements. It's "kannalavu" only :)
You can adjust it according to your tastebuds..
Yellow Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Keerai (spinach) - 2 cups
Coconut - 1/4th
Green chillies - 4
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
rasam powder - 1 tsp (my mom doesn't add this usually)
Thaalika (Tadka):
coconut oil - 1 tbsp (my mom uses ghee or veg oil mostly)
urad dal - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 4
hing (perungayam) - 2 pinches
Method:
Boil water in a saucepan. Wash moongdal and chanadal. Add them to the boiling water. It takes approximately 10-15mins to get cooked in an open pan. (alternatively,you can also pressure cook). I had put the stems of the keerai also in the boiling water to cook along with dal.
Once the dal is three-fourths cooked, I added the keerai and boiled it for about 10 mins. Then, grind coconut, green chillies, jeera, rasam powder in the mixie and add it to the pan. Once it boils and comes together, keep the coconut oil and put the thallipu items and once they splutter, add them to the kootu.
It was piping hot when I took this picture and I wanted to post the video as well for you to enjoy. I don't know if the video will work, it's taking sooo much time to upload.. Serve with steamed rice. This was my lunch today with pappadum. Yummmooooo.....
