Chow-chow (chayote) dal

This preparation falls somewhere between kootu and dal - it isnt a kootu because it doesnt have ground coconut masala to flavour it and it isnt quite a dal because I added sambar powder as flavouring. Whatever, it tastes just great with chapatis and is just as nice with rice. I guess there are plenty of cooks out there who have various ingenious ways too make this vegetable, but for someone like me, who has only tried it the "kootu" way, this recipe was quite radical. Especially as it was more or less off-the-cuff!

Recipe for: Chow-chow (chayote) dal



Ingredients:

2 cups chayote squash/chowchow, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/2 cup tuvar dal
1/4 cup chana dal
2 small onions, chopped fine
2 tomatoes, chopped fine
3 green chillies, made into a paste or minced
2 dry red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp sambar powder
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the chow-chow with the two dals. (If you dont have a pressure cooker, cook the tuvar dal separately to a mush, and cook the chana dal & chowchow together till done. The chana dal shouldnt be very mushy.)

2. In a pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, cover and let them pop. Then put in the cumin seeds, green chilli paste, red chillies and curry leaves and fry for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the onions now, stir well and cook till they turn soft. Then add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup water and cover, cooking till the sauce is thick and the tomatoes mushy.

4. Now stir in the coriander powder and sambar powder and then add the cooked vegetable and dals. Add salt to taste.

5. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with chapaties or over steamed rice.

Chayote squash (Bangalore kathirikkai) kootu

Say pumpkin, and immediately the garish orange one comes to mind - the one that's hollowed out to make Jack o' Lanterns for Halloween. I guess it's eaten a lot in the US during Thanksgiving - made into pies and cookies and cakes and casseroles and goodness knows what else. But orange pumpkins arent my favourite - the white ones are. That is, translucent white on the inside, and green on the outside.

White pumpkin seems to be a vegetable eaten mostly by Tamilians... it's one of my favourites when made into kootu (using ground coconut to flavour the gravy and bring the cooked vegetable "together") following my mother's recipe.

I'm not sure if it's particularly popular elsewhere (except when making aviyal, I suppose) in India, because the last time I visited my mother when she was living in Hyderabad, we didnt find white pumpkin in the vegetable shops for love or money. And the one time that I spotted a pumpkin, the shopkeeper refused to sell us a portion of it - it was all or nothing. Since a whole pumpkin is a waste of a purchase for just two people - even for two people who love it! - we had to leave with nothing.

But a reasonable substitute for white pumpkins - which I have never seen in the UK - is the chayote squash... or Bangalore kathirikkai, as I knew it in Madras. It's a slightly strange looking vegetable, puckered up on one side, but it tastes great when made into kootu.


Chayote squash, or Bangalore kathirikkai


What it looks like cut lengthwise

It's nice as a side dish with vatha kuzhambu/sambar and rice, fantastic as an accompaniment for rotis and pretty darn good over plain rice as a main meal. That's what I had yesterday for my dinner - chayote squash kootu with rice and microwaved appalams. Homey, filling and healthy!

Recipe for: Chayote squash (Bangalore kathirikkai) kootu



Ingredients:

2 cups chayote squash, chopped evenly into small cubes
1/4 cup gram dal (chana dal/kadalai paruppu)
Two pinches of turmeric powder
Water

For the coconut paste:

2 tbsp fresh grated coconut
4-5 green chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp rice flour

For the tempering/tadka:

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
a few curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)
Method:

1. Put the chopped squash and the chana dal in a saucepan and pour in just enough water to cover the vegetables fully.



2. Add the turmeric and stir, then cover the pan and bring the water to a boil. Turn down the heat to a slow simmer till the chana dal is cooked but still retains its shape, about 15-20 minutes. (Test by squashing a kernel of dal between your fingers - if it mashes easily, it's done.) Keep an eye on the water level so that it doesnt fall below the level of the vegetable. The squash should be cooked by then as well.



3. Meanwhile, grind the coconut paste ingredients into a smooth paste using some warm water (about 3-4 tbsp).

4. Add the paste to the cooked vegetable along with salt to taste, and mix well. Let the kootu simmer for 3-4 minutes.

5. In a small pan with a lid, heat 2 tsp oil and add the tempering ingredients, then close the pan. Wait till the mustard seeds have popped and the cumin seeds and urad dal have changed colour, then pour directly onto the kootu. Mix well and take the kootu off the heat.

6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice or chapatis/rotis.