Sundays are always meant for lazy morning brunches and steaming hot early dinners of home made goodness. I had this lovely fresh piece of pumpkin inside my refridgerator and my husband decided he wanted a kootu – which is a side – almost a thick gravy. I had already made the Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu from yesterday and the freshly made kootu smelling of vegetables and coconut and peppery niceness that it was a flawless compliment. I decided to toss in the koorkai at the last instant as I love the flavour and aroma of this root tuber. This preparation is pretty versatile so it could be substituted with any vegetable like chayote, bottle gourd, cucumber etc.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 – 2 cups of chopped pumpkin.

2 Medium Potatoes Chopped.

A handful of chopped Koorkai.

1/4 cup of cooked bengal gram.

2 tsp of broken urad dhal.

A spoon of black pepper.

1/3 cup of dessicated  coconut.

A spoon of cooked toor dhal (optional).

A pinch of turmeric.

A pinch of red chilli powder.

Salt.

A pinch of hing.

Seasoning:

Mustard, Broken Urad Dhal, Curry Leaves.

PREPARATION:

• Take the vessel and add all the chopped vegetables, pour just enough water so it just covers the veggies and switch on the stove. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and allow them to cook well.
• Cook the bengal gram so it does’nt get too mushy but just enough.
• Take a small seasoning kadai and roast the urad dhal, pepper and a few curry leaves in oil till the urad dhal turns golden brown.
• Grind this with the coconut to a smooth paste and set aside.
• When the vegetables are cooked well, add the ground paste, cooked bengal gram, salt if necessary, a spoon of cooked toor dhal. Mix well and allow to come together.
• Season in gingely oil with mustard, urad dhal and curry leaves and serve with Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu and Lemon Rasam.

Weekend Menu 1:

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu,

Tomatillo Lemon Rasam ,

Pumpkin Potatoes & Koorkai Poricha Kootu &

Urulai Fry./Alu Fry.