Tamil cuisine
Kootu
A thick, dry Tamil curry of lentils and vegetables (raw banana or yam) cooked with a coconut-sesame paste and tempered in cold-press sesame oil — the everyday comfort food of Tamil Nadu.
Why cold press mustard oil?
Kootu uses cold-press sesame oil (gingelly oil) for its tempering. The sesame oil's nutty flavour complements the coconut-sesame paste in the dish, creating a layered sesame flavour that is the hallmark of authentic Tamil kootu.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal (split chickpeas)
- 2 cups raw banana or yam, cubed
- 3 tbsp Dune Aura Cold-Press Sesame Oil
- ½ cup fresh coconut, grated
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, roasted
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step method
- 1
Pressure cook chana dal with turmeric for 3 whistles. Set aside.
- 2
Cook raw banana or yam in salted water until tender. Drain.
- 3
Grind coconut, roasted sesame seeds, cumin and 2 dried red chillies to a coarse paste.
- 4
Mix cooked dal, cooked vegetables and coconut-sesame paste. Simmer 5 minutes.
- 5
Heat sesame oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds — let them splutter.
- 6
Add curry leaves and 1 dried red chilli. Pour over the kootu.
- 7
Serve with steamed rice as part of a Tamil meal.
Pro tip
Roast the sesame seeds until they just start to pop — this releases the sesamol and deepens the flavour.
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