Mangala's Potpourri: Sabsige Soppina Kootu (Dill Leaves Sambar)

Kill Dill Kill Dill…..armed with an axe, many hard “dil”led men are all out to slay this soppu.

Oh men, please pause. Why kill them when they help your Lady Love during nursing and menopause?

Excellent for lactating mothers, playing vital role in reducing bone loss, these leaves of Dill that grow in a plant less than 2’ tall look feathery n fernlike, which when cooked turn crispy n strandlike. Striking feature is its texture that’s soft n rich, aroma arising out of it..aah ha… as pleasant as anise. Spicy seeds of this, that look n taste pretty similar to caraway are a great takeaway, for, though they taste slightly bitterly, it’s their distinct sweety flavour that favours us instantly.

Come Oh men n women, let’s greet these greens right below. They are waiting to dish.hum us back with a super traditional uber tasty treat that straightdrives us to a total retreat.

So what if the weather is cold n cloudy…do we have to turn glum n gloomy? Not really...let’s simply rush to the kitchen and cook this Kootu! Why wait when it can warm our body when cold and lift us up when moody. Simply spiced with strong smelling pepper corns, it’s an uber comfort recipe with super medicinal values. Being a tad bit thicker than sambar, tad more watery than curry, showering its love for us with a healthy taste derived by grinding a spicy paste, tempting us to fallback on it for cooking, even when in a hurry.

Dish Type: South Indian Vegetable Stew

Time taken: 40 min

Serves: 4 persons

Ingredients

For pressure cooking:

Tur dal 50 gms

Water 250 ml

Turmeric powder A pinch

Ghee A drop

Dill leaves 1 bunch

For grinding:

Black gram dal 1 tsp (dry fry)

Coriander seeds 1 tsp (dry fry)

Cinnamon ½” pc 1 no. (dry fry)

Pepper corns 1 tsp (dry fry)

Khus Khus ½ tsp (dry fry)

Asafoetida A pinch (dry fry)

Raw grated coconut 3 tsps

Rasam powder 3 tsps approx. (adjust to suit your taste)

While boiling

Salt to taste 3 ½ tsps approx. (3 tsps at the start of boiling + ½ tsp when you add ground masala)

Water 500 ml

For seasoning:

Ghee 1 tsp

Mustard seeds ½ tsp

Red chillies 2 nos.

Curry leaves 1 sprig

Asafoetida A pinch

Directions

Wash dal with water, drain and keep aside.

Pluck Dill leaves along with its ‘tender’ stalks (discard roots and long thick stalks). Wash them thoroughly in water. Keep aside in a colander for water to drain out. Chop them fine.

Cook dal in a pressure cooker along with chopped Dill leaves, water, turmeric powder and a dash of ghee.

While dill and dal are being cooked…

You can do dry frying. Heat a medium sized kadai. Now start dry frying ingredients listed under “For grinding” one after another separately and keep transferring each of them to a plate. Let them cool thoroughly.

Grind the dry fried ingredients. Add rasam powder, raw grated coconut and water just enough to get chutney consistency. Add this ground masala to the cooked dal and vegetables. Also add ½ tsp of salt and water as required. Boil for about 10 min. Did you get the fragrant flavour of kootu? Yesss….now is the right time to get ready for seasoning.

For this, heat ghee in a small skillet. Put mustard seeds. When they crackle put broken red chillies and switch off the flame. Add asafoetida. Immediately pour it on to the boiling kootu.

Garnish it with thoroughly washed and chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Sabsige Soppina Kootu (Dill Leaves Kootu) is now ready.

Tete – a - Tete:

This type of Kootu (a kind of Sambar) can be made using other green varieties like Spinach, Mountain Spinach (Chakotha Soppu), Malabar Spinach (Basale soppu) and Amaranth (Dantu, Harive)

Apart from greens , other vegetables (except Brinjal and Lady’s finger) may also be used.

Kootu, defined in generic term is a variety of Sambar. Key difference however lies in spice and consistency. It is generally prepared thicker than sambar. Tamarind is not used in “traditional style” of preparing Kootu.
Recipe contributed by nonagenarian and expert cook Smt. Lalithamma Ramamurthy

Recipes viewed here are a part of "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog

You may also view in this blog:

Few other Sambar Varieties
Side Dish Recipes
Dessert Recipes

Snack Recipes

Few other recipes contributed by Smt. Lalithamma Ramamurthy:

Heralekaayi Gojju (Citron Lime Sauce)

Pulgura (Huli Soppu) or Greens Chutney

Sambar Powder