Bangalore Vankaya Kootu / Chayote Stew

Bangalore Vankaya / Chow Chow  / Chayote  often known as  "Bangalore vankaya" in telugu is very rich in amino acids and vitamin C. Kootu basically refers to a dish made with vegetable and dal and can be eaten with an accompaniment to hot steamed  rice as well as roti. .  For this kootu, I have used Chana dal but you can also prepare this with moong dal. The same  recipe  can also be used for bottle gourd, ridge gourd and cabbage.
I used to cook chayote as an ingredient in  Majjiga pulusu  or a simple curry by just sautéing it and adding grated coconut. I got this recipe from a tamil friend of mine and after trying this,  I loved the kootu so much that now a days I hardly use Chayote any other recipe.
Here goes the recipe….

Ingredients

• Bangalore Vankaya / chayote - 1 ( peeled and chopped into pieces)
• Channa dal / Moong dal - 1/4 cup 
•  Onion-  1 medium sized ( finely chopped)
• Turmeric - a generous pinch 
• Salt  - to taste

To grind

• Coconut (freshly grated) - 1/4 cup
• Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Green Chillies - 3-4 (adjust acc to spice of chilli)

To temper/ popu:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• Chana dal - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Procedure:

Cut the chayote into cubes. It is better to soak chana dal in water for half an hour before cooking. Pressure cook the chana dal, Chayote , turmeric and salt for about 2 -3 whistles . Dont make it very mushy.

Meanwhile grind the coconut,chillies,cumin seeds into a  paste.

After the pressure releases add this ground paste  to the vegetable and dal mixture and mix well. Boil them for 2-3 mins on medium flame and bring to boil.

Take a vessel for tempering. Add oil and when hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, asafoetida and curry leaves followed by the finely chopped small onion and mix well.

Serve with rice or also as an accompaniment to chapathi/roti . 

My kootu in the picture isnt in a flowy consistence and is more or less like a curry...My hubby likes it that way. You can make it in a dal like consistency. Anyways, it tastes great  and makes a mild, comforting and healthy meal.

Palakura Pappu /Spinach Dal

A healthy way to consume green leafy vegetables  is to pressure-cook the leafy veggies with toor dal. The recipe is to combine all the ingredients below and  pressure cook with 2 cups of water and garnish it with popu/tadka.

Ingredients:

• One bunch of Spinach, washed and cut into pieces
• One cup of Toor dal (Kandi Pappu)-soaked in water for an hour
• One medium sized tomato- cut into pieces
• One medium sized onion- cut into pieces
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 6- 7 green chillies (adjust acc to spice)
• Key-lime size tamarind (Chinta pandu)
• 2 cups of water

For popu / tadka:

• 1 tsp of oil or ghee
• 1/2 tsp of each - cumin, mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal and few pieces of curry leaves and dried red chilli pieces
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• a generous pinch of hing/Asafoetida

Procedure:

Pressure cook all the above ingredients for 3 whistles (except the ones for the popu)

 After pressure-cooking all of the above ingredients, add 1 tsp of salt and make a paste of spinach dal by mashing it.

For the popu/ tadka, In a saucepan, add one tsp of oil or ghee and lightly fry the minced garlic, urad dal, chana dal, cumin and mustard seeds, red chilli pieces and curry leaves and hing.

Add the popu to the spinach dal combine them together. Keep the dal covered till serving time.

 Serve the dal with steaming rice or with chapati/roti.

Mullangi / Radish Sambar

For all those who like the flavor of  radish,  try this recipe of  radish sambar and you will love it. For this sambar either make your own homemade sambar powder or buy a good quality one. Radish sambar goes very well with steamed rice and some papaddums by the side.It also pairs well with idli, dosa or uttapam.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - Radish, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 3/4 cup - Toor dal, cooked and mashed
• lime sized ball of tamarind  soaked and pulp extracted 
• 1.5 Tbsp - Sambar Powder
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 tomato
• 3 tbsp coriander leaves/Cilantro
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1-2 - Green chilli, slit lengthwise (Adjust acc to spice of Sambar powder)
• Salt to taste
• 2-2.5 cups water

For Tadka/Seasoning

• 1 tsp - Vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 4-5 - Curry leaves
• pinch of asafoetida/hing 
• Optional - 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds & a dried red chilli
• Coriander leaves for garnish (optional)

Procedure:

In a deep saucepan, add a tsp of oil followed by onion, green chillis and  sliced radish.  Cover the pot and cook on medium heat until the radish slices soften a bit.You can sprinkle some water to avoid if from burning. You can also use a microwave for this step.

In the meantime, place tamarind pulp and soak the pulp in 1/2 cup of lukewarm  water for 10 mins. Using your hands, squeeze out as much of the pulp as possible and reserve.

Once the radish slices are soft, pour water in the pan and  add the tamarind extract, sambar powder, turmeric powder, salt ,coriander leaves and cook uncovered for 10mins or until the raw smell of the tamarind is lost.

Mash the dal well and add it along with a cup of water to the sambar pot. Taste test for salt and cook for 8-10 mins more until slight foam forms on the top and you can smell the comforting fragrance of the sambar. 

Adjust the consistency by adding more water as needed and taste test for salt.

For the seasoning, heat oil in the tadka pan, add mustard seeds, cumin and once they begin to splutter carefully add curry leaves and a pinch of hing.

 Pour this over the sambar and keep covered until its time to serve. Garnish with coriander leaves right before serving.