Koottu

Cabbage Kootu

Kootu (Tamil:கூட்டு) is a Tamil word means 'add' i.e. vegetable added with lentils which form the dish, made of vegetable and lentils and are semi-solid in consistency, i.e., less aqueous than sambhar, but more so than dry curries. Virundhu Sappadu (Typical Tamil feast) comes with the combo of boiled rice ('Choru' in Tamil), sambar, rasam, curd, poriyal, kootu, appalam, pickle and banana. All kootus by default have some vegetables and lentils, but many variations of kootu exist:

• Poricha Kootu: A kootu made with urid dhal and pepper is called poricha (means 'fried' in Tamil) kootu. Fried urid dhal, pepper and fresh coconut are ground together. The moong dhal and the cut vegetables are cooked separately. Then, the ground paste, cooked vegetable and moong dhal are mixed together and heated. Vegetables such as beans and snake gourd are common ingredients in this kootu.

• Araichivita Kootu: A kootu which has a ground (freshly powdered) masala in it; the word araichivita in Tamil literally translates to 'the one which has been ground and poured.' The ground paste is a mixture of fried urid dhal, gram dhal, dhaniya (coriander seeds) and coconut. The chopped vegetables and the toor dhal are cooked separately. Then, the ground paste, cooked vegetable and dhal are heated together.

• Many other regional variations exist.