Ash Gourd Kootu is a South Indian lentil
soup with winter melon and
pinto beans.
If you're in the mood for a warm vegetable soup, you'll like this easy
vegetarian recipe.
The pinto beans and lentils provide a lot of the
protein, fiber, and nutrition you need and can be part
of a low cholesterol diet.
Beans and lentils are both high in protein and fiber
and low
in fat, and combined with ash gourd which has no fat, this
bean-lentil-vegetable dish provides healthy nutrition.
Servings: 4-6 Cooking Time: 15
minutes
Ingredients
3/4 cup toor dal (split red gram)
Turmeric
powder, a pinch
1 cup of ash gourd, cut into small cubes
1 can of canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 green chillies, slit and cut in half
Salt to taste
For Masala
1 1/2 tsp chana dal (split bengal gram)
1 tsp toor dal
1 tsp dhania (corinder seeds)
5-6 red chillies
2 -3 tsp dry, grated coconut
For Seasoning
3-4 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/4 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
Asafoetida
powder (hing), a pinch
5-6 curry leaves
Preparation
Cook the toor dal in the pressure cooker with 1 1/4
cups water and a little turmeric powder for 4-5 whistles.
In a deep saucepan, boil the ash gourd pieces with
1/4 cup
water,
salt, and a little turmeric powder.
While the melon is cooking, roast the masala
ingredients- chana dal, toor dal, dhania and red chillies. Grind these
with coconut with a little water into a
coarse paste.
When the ash gourd is semi-cooked, add the pinto
beans. Cook for a minute or two.
Add the ground
masala and boil for 2-3 minutes until the gourd, pinto beans, and
masala are fully
cooked.
Add the cooked dal.
Heat oil in a small pan for the seasoning. Add hing
and green chillies. As the chillies start to brown, add the mustard
seeds.
When the seeds start to pop, add the curry leaves and fry for a few
seconds. Pour over the dal and stir.
Let the ash gourd kootu come to a boil.
Serve the ash gourd kootu hot with hot rice, ghee,
and pappadums
or with roti.
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