Today for lunch I wanted to make kootu, a South Indian dish made with veggies (any thing) and lentil and some spices. Basically like Dal.
They are easy to make and good to eat too.
And best accompaniment with the rice. So I used “Chow Chow” vegetable for that. Usually we all throw the skin of the veggies in the trash. But certain veggies has multipurpose. You can use its skin/outer layer of the vegetable for making these kind of dips/thogayal, which tastes good when made in an appropriate way with right ingredients.
Thogayal are always in the form of “dip / chutney” which goes well with rice , and Tiffen varieties like Dosa and idly.
This is how I made this Thogayal.
INGREDIENTS:
Chow chow – skin of it. (I used one chow chows skin/thol)
Onion- 1 medium size
Raw ginger-1/4 piece
Green chilies- 1 & 1/2
Chana dal -4 teaspoon
Urad dal -3 teaspoon
Pepper corns -1/4 teaspoon
Asafetida powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder -1/2 teaspoon
Salt – as needed
Grated coconut -2 tablespoon
Tamarind paste -2 teaspoon
Coconut oil – 2 teaspoon
METHODOLOGY:
1. In a pan add oil and to it add green chilies, dals and pepper corns. Sauté until the dal turns golden in color. Then add the onions to it. Also add the chopped raw ginger.
2. Add turmeric powder, asafetida powder and toss them together by sprinkling little water.
3. After couple of minutes add chow chow skin /thol/ outer layer and sauté them for 5 mins by adding water to it.
4. Allow them to cool and then add them in the blender. Then add the salt, tamarind paste and grated coconut. Add 5 tablespoons or 1/3 cup of water and make it as a thick paste. Transfer them to a bowl. Serve them with rice and other items as I have mentioned above.
NOTE:
1. I like to add turmeric to my dishes. That’s an option here.
2. If you want to add garlic you can. If you want to skip garlic and onion you can do that as well.
3. Instead of urad dal you can use Chana dal alone.
4. You can also add coriander seeds if needed.
Take a look at the end result 👇🏽
The Homemade cooking 