BEETROOT GREENS KOOTU/ BEETROOT KEERAI KOOTU

                                 

  Beetroot greens, as any other greens is very good for health. These greens are nothing but the leafs that come along with the beetroots in market (next time,don't discard it!). Here is a simple South Indian kootu recipe using this greens.
                                   Kootu is usually lentils boiled with veggies which are later topped with coconut and fennel mixture. It tastes great as a side-dish for gravy varieties like ennai kuzhambu and poondu milagu kuzhambu. It can also be had mixed with plain rice. A simple potato fry or egg fry would complete a full meal..

BEETROOT GREENS KOOTU RECIPE

Cuisine - Tamil Nadu

Category - Lunch/ Curry

Yields - 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

Moong dal/ Paasi paruppu - 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon

Beetroot greens - 1 bunch (leaves n stalks of 3 beetroots)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Red chilly Powder - 1teaspoon

refined oil - 1 teaspoon

Salt - as required

TO GRIND

Coconut - 3 to 4 tablespoons

Fennel seeds/ saunf/ sombu - 1 teaspoon

Poppy seeds/ kasa kasa - 2 teaspoons (optional)

TO GARNISH
Chana dal/ kalla paruppu - 1 tablespoons (soaked)

METHOD

1. Soak the chana dal for atleast half an hour and keep it aside. Pressure cook moong dal with a teaspoon of oil for a whistle.

2. Wash the beetroot greens thoroughly and chop it.

3. When the pressure subsides, take out the cooked moong dal in a wide pan. Add in the beetroot greens and bring it to boil. Add water if necessary. Kootu should be in a semi solid consistency.

4. To it add turmeric powder, salt and chilly powder and let it cook till the greens are cooked and tender.
5. Grind coconut, fennel and poppy seeds to a smooth paste. Add it to the boiling mixture and let it cook for another minute till the raw smell goes off.

6. Now, boil the soaked chana dal separately. They should be fully cooked but still not mashable. They give a great texture and taste to kootu.
7. Top the kootu with the cooked chana dal. Mix and serve!

TIPS
1. The final consistency should be neither watery nor too dry.
2. Topping it with cooked chana dal is just optional. Traditionally, this step is avoided.
3. You can also eliminate the chilly powder and replace with a green chilly. In that case, grind the green chilly along with the coconut and fennel mixture (authentically its made like this).
4. This dish can be tempered with mustard, urad dal and asafoetida (hing) too.
5. Soaking moong dal before hand would reduce cooking time.
6. Fennel seeds can be replaced with cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam).