My 11th recipe, “Kadala Parupu Peerkangai Kootu” or “Chana Dal Ridge Gourd Gravy”, a super easy ‘everyone can cook’ kind of a dish. You can never go wrong while making this peerkangai kootu. My mom used to frequently prepare this Kootu with brinjal as an accompaniment for rasam. It was a very good combo.

With the weather being cold for the last few days, RK has been affected by the nasty flu. So I decided to make rasam today to help RK fight his cold. As an accompaniment to the rasam, I thought of preparing Kadala Parupu Kathirika Kootu which my mom used to make. But as fate would strike me, I didn’t have brinjals in stock 🙁

My mind was not ready to settle on anything other than Kootu. All of a sudden the ridge gourd smiled at me from a corner of my fridge. Voila, I made this peerkangai Kootu with the ridge gourd. It was super yummy and my tummy got what it wanted 😉

Kadala Parupu Peerkangai Kootu

Peerkangai Kootu

Revathi Palani

Peerkangai Kootu is a healthy South Indian side made with chana dal and peerkangai. Perfect as a side for rice or chapati.

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 medium Ridge gourd
1 medium Onion
1 medium Tomato
1 sprig Curry leaf
Coriander leaves - For garnishing
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Sambar powder
½ tsp Salt (adjust as per taste)

To Temper

1 tsp Oil
¼ tsp Mustard seeds
¼ tsp Jeera
½ tsp Broken Urad Dal
2 Dry Red chilli

To Cook Dal

½ Cup Kadalai parupu/ Chana Dal
5 cloves Garlic
¼ tsp Asafoetida
¼ tsp Turmeric

Instructions

First, pressure cook the chana dal for 3 whistles with 1 cup of water and other ingredients under “To Cook Dal”. Once done mash slightly; do not mash to a smooth paste. You need to feel the dal in each bite of the kootu.
While the Dal is cooking, Heat a pan with oil, add the mustard and let it splutter and then add all other ingredients under “To Temper” one by one in given order. Followed by curry leaves and onion and saute till the onion color changes to translucent.
Now add the tomato and salt, then saute till the tomato turns mushy. Follow it up with ridge gourd (Peel the skin of ridge gourd and cut into small cubes) and saute for 1 minute.
Then add sambar powder, turmeric powder and 1 ½ cups of water, mix thoroughly and bring it to a boil and then reduce the flame to medium.
Once the ridge gourd gets ¾ cooked add the half mashed dal and mix thoroughly and cook till the ridge gourd is cooked fully. Turn off the flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chapati .

Notes | FAQ

- While adding dal the gravy becomes thick. If you feel your gravy is too thick, you can add ½ cup of water, bring to a boil and switch off the flame.

- In case your gravy is too thin, cook in high flame, stirring at regular intervals till you get your desired consistency.