Recipe: Tasty Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew

Recipe: Tasty Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew Delicious, fresh and tasty.

Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew. This curry, as light and healthy as it is, features in our menu at least once a week. In both methods, you cook the lentils and chow chow or chayote together, and then flavor it with a different base. Chow Chow or the Indian Chayote is also known as Bangalore Brinjal, Cho Cho etc.

It is a type of gourd , that can be used in various south Indian dishes.

One very famous dish is "saagu" for Rava idli.

Buying the right Chayote : Look for a chayote.

You can cook Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew using 10 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew

1. You need 2 of Chayote.

2. Prepare 1 cup of moong dal.

3. It’s 300 ml of water.

4. It’s 1 tbsp of ghee.

5. You need 1 tsp of mustard seeds.

6. Prepare 5 of curry leaves.

7. You need to taste of salt.

8. Prepare 1 handful of coconut scrapings.

9. You need 1 tbsp of cumin jeera /.

10. You need 7 of chillies dry red.

Kootu is a lentil and vegetable stew in South Indian, particularly Tamil and Kerala cuisines.

Chow Chow kootu is made with Chayote squash and yellow moong dal.

This is similar to sambar but thicker in consistency and derives flavors from coconuts (or coconut milk).

Chow Chow Kootu with Moong Dal - Chayote Squash Lentil Stew.

Chow-Chow Kootu / Chayote Lentil Stew instructions

1. Cook 1 cup of moong dal(add water until the moong dal submerges or about 200 ml)  in pressure cooker up to 4 whistles or cook it in microwave for 15 minutes in high power..

2. Peel and chop the chow-chow or chayote into small cubes and put it ina vessel. Add enough water and cook this on medium heat. Sprinkle little salt for the chow-chow to cook faster..

3. Take the ingredients mentioned under "For the paste" in a blender jar, add little water(about 6 tbsps) and grind this to smooth paste. It should look like a chutney..

4. Now check if the chow-chow- or chayote is cooked by inserting a knife, if it goes in easily then it is cooked. Now add the cooked moong dal and the ground paste to this and mix. Let it boil for about 6 minutes. Keep stirring do not leave this boiling continuously on medium heat. At this stage it will easily stick to the bottom of the vessel and burn, Keep stirring in equal intervals..

5. None.

6. Take the kootu off the heat and take a tadka pan, on medium heat, crackle 1 tsp of mustard seeds and curry leaves in a tablespoon of ghee. Add this to the kootu and mix..

7. None.

Easy and quick recipe for Chow Chow Kootu with Moong Dal.

Chow-Chow (Merakai) cooked with lentils and simmered with coconut and cumin seeds.

This is an everyday lentil - Chow Chow Kootu recipe.

Chayote kootu is easy to prepare.

In the meantime, fry the spices and prepare the coconut paste for the kootu/stew.