26 KOOTTAN CHORU- Mixed Vegetable Lentil Rice

Koottan Choru - Mixed Vegetable Lentil Rice

Choru or soru is rice in Tamil and as the name of the dish - this a mixed vegetable and Lentil Rice.


This is a traditional recipe of Tamil Nadu especially south Tamil Nadu- Tirunelveli. Our native is aplce near South Tamil Nadu and my mom and grandma makes this excellent dish very often at home. Recently I was longing to make and eat this dish and the next thing I did was asking the recipe. My mom gave me the recipe with some tips and also suggested that it tastes more good when served cold. I remember them doing this early in the morning and having it for breakfast and lunch. Since we add lot of veggies, dhal and rice we get a very good quantity. This is a also a one pot meal, so they used to cook this in a very big vessel and serve with papad/appalam and pickle.


Rice - 1 cup
Toor/ Tuvar Dal - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - a small lime size
Salt as needed

Veggies:-
Drumstick(Murungakkai)- 1, Brinjal(Katharikkai) - 1or 2, Raw Banana(vazhakkai) - half, Senaikizhangu(Yam) - 1, Potato(Urulaikizhangu) - 1 or 2, carrot - 1, Raw Mango(Mangai)(Few small pieces) - All chopped

For Masala paste:-
Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Red Chillies - 5 or 6( as spice needed)
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 3 or 4 flakes
( Make a wet paste, all ground raw)

For tempering:-

Gingelly oil - 2 or 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds and urdhal dhal - 1/4 tsp each
Onion - 1 or small onions ( around 10)- chopped
Green Chillies - 2 slit long
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida/Hing - 2 or 3 sprinkles


Take a big vessel on stove top and first wash and add rice and dhal with enough water and cook till half done/cooked. Next slowly add in veggies one after the other as fast/slow they get cooked starting from yam,drumstick, potato,carrot, brinjal and raw banana. Make sure you add raw banana in the last as it gets cooked soon and we do not want the veggies to get mushy. Once the veggies are cooked( firm but soft) and also the rice and dhal are cooked. Add in tamarind paste( Soaked in a cup of water for 30 minutes and extract pulp) and also the ground masala paste. Also add salt and mango pieces ( Note test the sourness of the mango if too sour then reduce the tamarind paste) and allow the masala to get cooked until the raw smell leaves for 10 minutes. Remove and temper with the tempering ingredients and pour in the rice. Mix well and serve.

I am sending this entry to Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Post - Walking through the Memory Lane Event.