Kali and Kootu ~spicy south indian tuber stew served with whole wheat halwa~
copyright 2010 eat.right.think
I was recently visiting my dad in Madras and he decided to make kali and kootu for breakfast since I had skipped making this dish for Thiruvadurai this year [kali kootu is traditionally made on this day – I am clueless as to why this particular dish and even why this festival is celebrated – but I refuse to google it since I’m a lover of mystery and I like figuring out stuff through various well-informed and ill-informed sources and piece together my own version of celestial events!]
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
In our family, kootu is made using an amazing root vegetable much like Yam that we call Kavathu – its looks quite odd with its skin on [sadly it had been scrubbed before I could take a pic] but once it is peeled and chopped, kavathu reveals its purple hues. Another important ingredient is avarakkai – the larger variety. Our recipe for kavathu kootu is mind-bogglingly simple and delicious.
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
Ingredients
Equal quantities of kavathu, avarakkai and carrots chopped.
a cupful of peas
green chillies to taste
1 cup of grated coconut
a little bit of tamarind soaked
salt to taste
1 teaspoon turmeric
coconut oil
Method
1. Cook the vegetables [drop in the kavathu first, then as they are half cooked the rest] in tamarind water – add salt and turmeric.
2. Meanwhile grind the coconut and green chillies to a fine paste.
3. When the vegetables are done, add the coconut-chilly paste. Let it simmer once. Stir well to combine. Switch off. Pour a little coconut oil on top. Some of my relatives like to splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil on top. That tastes good too.
Now you’ve got to eat this kootu with kali – it’s the most amazing combination of a sweet and spicy meal.
We make kali with coarsely ground wheat instead of rice. I can’t list exact ingredients because I really don’t know – basically what you need to do is dissolve jaggery in water – I guess about half cup powdered jaggery to a cup of flour depending on how sweet the jaggery is – when the water with jaggery starts boiling, add a pinch of salt and add the wheat flour and stir like you would an uppuma…when everything is cooked, stir in some finely cut coconut pieces.
Switch off and enjoy it steaming hot with kootu on the side.
We make the thiruvadira kootu a little differently with horse gram (mudira in malayalam), i have to ask my mum, I’ve never made it here… maybe next time. And we have it with cooked broken wheat pulao. when you say coarse wheat flour is it normal atta? or some special kootu flour?
its just normal wheat flour – except instead of buying fine wheat flour or atta – we just take it to the mill and grind it coarsely…
a lot of people also make kali with rice…
What an interesting dish! Very flavorful too!
Sorry, I did not answer your message on my blog! I forgot! sago pearls is not something I am familiar with. So, yes that jelly is thickened with a starch called wheat starch and it comes in powder or pellet form and is white in color.
This vegetable is new to me, looks delicious! Love your presentation and the photos.
Ok, now you better get the exact measures for kali-can’t leave us hanging like this! The kootu looks amazing.
BTW, correct me if I am wrong,kaavathu is, I think, the purple version of Elephant foot yam – also called “kand” and is one of the veggies used in that amazing Gujarati dish – Undhiyu.
Miri