White Pumpkin Kootu with Green Peas

Quick and easy recipe for white pumpkin (vellai poosanikai) kootu with green peas. A delicious and wholesome side for rice or chapatis.

Prep 5 mins

Cook 25 mins

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This simple and delicious kootu recipe has white pumpkin / ash gourd and green peas as the vegetables in it. This pairs so well with some hot rice, vathal kuzhambu and appalam.

Vellai Poosanikai koottu is usually made with chana dal or kadala parippu. This recipe is a little different from that as it uses toor dal as the lentil base. 

A simple toor dal or moong dal based kootu usually has one or a few vegetables as the main ingredient and a spiced coconut paste is added to it to finish off the flavors of the kootu.

We love Spinach Kootu, Kale Kootu, Carrot, Potato and Green Peas Kootu, Cabbage Kootu, Zucchini Kootu and basically any type of kootu. It is an excellent way to get your protein and veggies in, with just one curry.

Kootu is essentially a type of dal with veggies and coconut in it. It can be had as a side with rice or rotis and chapatis as well.

Ingredients 

• White Pumpkin - white pumpkin also called ash gourd, winter melon or vellai poosanikai is native to South Asia and is used a lot in such soupy-stewy curries. They have a very neutral taste which makes it such a versatile ingredient that can be added to any kind of dish. To use, peel the melon and scoop out the seeds and strings with it. Cut the flesh into 1 inch cubes to be used in the curry.
• Green Peas - I always have frozen green peas in my freezer, so it is a great thing to add on to anything for some extra veggie power.
• Toor Dal - Toor Dal or Split Pigeon Peas is one of the more common dals used in Indian cooking. You can also sub yellow split moong dal in place of the toor dal. 
• Coconut - fresh grated coconut is used to make a paste with some cumin seeds and red chillies. Freshly frozen grated coconut is a great substitute for this. This is also something that I have in the freezer all the time.
• Spices - the spice list for this curry is relatively less. There is ground turmeric, cumin seeds and dried red chillies. 
• Tempered seasoning - as with most curries, a tempered seasoning / tadka / thalichu kottal is added to this as well. Here we add mustard seeds, chana dal and curry leaves tempered in coconut oil.

Method

• Peel, de seed and cube the melon into 1 inch cubes. Add some water and turmeric powder in a pot and cook the melon in it till it is easily mushed with little pressure.
• Add the green peas to it and let it soften. Add salt to taste and mix well.

• Cook the toor dal till it is all mushy and add it to the melon and green peas.
• Grind the coconut to a paste along with cumin seeds and dried red chillies. Add this to the dal and melon mix.

• Pop the mustard seeds in hot coconut oil and add the chana dal and curry leaves to it. 
• Pour this tadka over the kootu and mix well before serving.

Serving Suggestions

This kootu tastes so good when served with rice and some vatha kuzhambu or rasam. You can also serve it as a side for chapatis or rotis.

You may also love 

These simple veggie rich Southern Indian staples are also as simple and delicious as this kootu.

1. Red Beets and Rainbow Carrots Thoran
2. Spinach and Chickpea Saute with Coconut
3. Avial - Mixed vegetable curry with coconut
4. Kerala Style Roasted Okra - Vendakka Mezhukkupuratti

Recipe tips

• If you are cooking toor dal or moong dal for making dal any other day of the week, make extra to use for this kootu as well. It is a lot quicker when you already have cooked dal on hand.
• Mix and match vegetables for this recipe. If you don't have green peas, then make this kootu with just the winter melon. You can also substitute any kind of squash for the winter melon.

White Pumpkin / Vellai Poosanikai Kootu with Green Peas

Quick and easy recipe for white pumpkin (vellai poosanikai) kootu with green peas. A delicious and wholesome side for rice or chapatis.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Vegetable Curries

Cuisine: Indian - South Indian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 190kcal

Author: Manju

[recipe_key]

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups cubed winter melon / ash gourd / white pumpkin
• ▢ 1 cup frozen peas
• ▢ 1 cup toor dal
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 1 cup grated coconut
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 2-3 dried red chillies
• ▢ salt as needed

For the tadka

• ▢ 2 tablespoon coconut oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ 5-6 curry leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chana dal

Instructions

• Peel, de seed and cube the white pumpkin into 1 inch cubes. Add some water and turmeric powder in a pot and cook the melon in it till it is easily mushed with little pressure. This should take about 8-10 mins.
  2 cups cubed winter melon / ash gourd / white pumpkin, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• Add the green peas to it and let it soften. Add salt to taste and mix well.
  1 cup frozen peas, salt
• While the melon is cooking, cook the toor dal in a pressure cooker or the Instant Pot. For the Instant Pot, add toor dal, double the amount of water and cook on Manual / High Pressure for 6 mins. Mash the dal till it gets all mushy and add it to the melon and green peas.
  1 cup toor dal
• Grind the coconut* to a paste along with cumin seeds and dried red chillies. Add this to the dal and melon mix. Rinse out any coconut paste in the blender jar with some water and add it to the kootu. Let it all cook together over medium high heat for 2-3 mins.
  1 cup grated coconut, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2-3 dried red chillies
• Pop the mustard seeds in hot coconut oil and add the chana dal and curry leaves to it. Once the chana dal starts to turn brown, remove the tadka pan from the heat.
  2 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 5-6 curry leaves, 1 teaspoon chana dal
• Pour this tadka over the kootu and mix well before serving.

Notes

* if using frozen grated coconut (which is the easiest and still fresh way to use this ingredient), break off a piece and warm in the microwave for 30 secs to a minute before you grind it to a paste. This will make sure that it grinds evenly to a smooth paste without the oil separating.

• If you are cooking toor dal or moong dal for making dal any other day of the week, make extra to use for this kootu as well. It is a lot quicker when you already have cooked dal on hand.
• Mix and match vegetables for this recipe. If you don't have green peas, then make this kootu with just the winter melon. You can also substitute any kind of squash for the winter melon.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 312mg | Potassium: 154mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 273IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

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