Monday, August 22, 2011

Mangai Kootan


Kootan in Palakkad lingua means Kuzhambu, something that’s like gravy and can be mixed with rice. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, I mostly like North Indian cuisine and so I never learnt to cook any of our day to day dishes which mom used to make on a regular basis. Then, once marriage got fixed, and I came to know that hubby dear is a diehard fan of our regular homemade food and does not prefer other cuisines, I had to equip myself with the bare minimum, i.e molagootal, Sambar and Rasam. I have a diary in which I sat and noted all the Palakkad recipes. Though I don’t use that diary very often these days, but it has helped many of my other newly married cousins and also hubby dear, when I am not around.

H is really fond of these yogurt based Kootans, like Mor Kuzhambu, Rasakalan, and this Mangai Kootan. Actually, mangai kootan is everyone’s favorite in our house and once the mango season starts, its mango dishes all the way till the end of the season.

Though the mango season has come to end, my hubby found some mangoes in a Kerala shop nearby, and could not resist his temptation to buy it. So, came hubby with these perfectly green raw mangoes. (I wonder though, how the shop keeper managed to get them in this season.) But they tasted quite good. One of them was straightaway cut and eaten as it is. With the remaining I made this Kootan about 2 or 3 times. So here is the recipe:


Serves: 4

What you’ll need:

1. Raw Mango – 1 Medium size
2. Malabar Vellari /Ash gourd - 1 cup cubed
3. Drumstick - 1 cut into finger sized pieces
4. Beaten Curds – 1.5 cups
5. Jaggery – 1 Tbsp
6. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
7. Salt to taste

To grind

1. Fresh scraped coconut – 1 cup
2. Fenugreek Seeds/ Methi – ½ tsp
3. Dried Red Chillies – 3 to 4

For Tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
2. Curry Leaves a few
3. Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Method

Wash, peel and cut the mango into medium sized pieces. In a vessel, cook the mango pieces, along with the ashgourd and drumstick pieces with salt, turmeric powder and enough water.
Once the mangoes are half done, add the jaggery. And stir well. Let it boil till the mangoes and vegetables are fully cooked.
In the meanwhile, heat a small frying pan, and fry the methi seeds and red chillies taking care not to burn the methi seeds. Allow to cool. Then grind these with the coconut adding little water, into a fine smooth paste.

Once the mangoes are done, add the ground paste to it and let it boil for about 2 minutes. Finally, reduce the heat to low and slowly add the whisked curds and blend well. Check for salt and add it if required. Simmer for about a minute or till the gravy just starts foaming. Remove from heat. Garnish with curry leaves. Temper with mustard seeds.


Yummy Manga Kootan is ready. Serve with steaming rice and any stir fry of your choice.

Notes:

1. If mangoes are not sour, you will have to use sour curds else  a day old curd will do.
2. Adjust quantity of jaggery according to sourness of the mango. Add more if required.
3. Do not boil, after adding the whisked curds else, the curds will split. ( you can turn off the heat and add it too)
4. If you want to reduce the quantity of coconut, add a tsp of raw rice while grinding the paste.
5. Make sure the methi seeds are fried will but not burnt, else the kootan will turn bitter.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Vidhya and to CWS - Fenugreek seeds hosted by Priya started by Kiran Also sending this to Flavors of South India hosted by Nayana

29 comments:

khushi said...

wooo...raw mango...turmeric...jaggery all together in one!!! I can imagine how tasty it isssss...delicious kaveri
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Deeksha said...

Delicious platter....Yum!

chef and her kitchen said...

looks delicious..never had this..:)

Ms.Chitchat said...

Tasty maanga kootan,I too prepare the same way, in fact last week I prepared with maampazham, it was awesome.

Prema said...

wow yummy mangai kootan,luks very tempting...

Ramya said...

wow..i love this curry

Suja Manoj said...

My favorite,looks awesome

Priya Sreeram said...

mangai kootan is my hubby's fav too- this creamy dish is a winner !

Padhu Sankar said...

Looks delicious and I love Palakkad dishes .I prepare mollakootal often

divya said...

looks absolutely perfect and tempting.. Yummy :)

Indian Khana said...

That's looks delicious and love the combo ...yummy meal

Vimitha Durai said...

Yummy combination of flavors...

Vatsala. said...

New to me. Looks delicious.

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Pushpa said...

Satisfying and yummy.

Sobha Shyam said...

lovely recipe, havent tried this, adding methi seeds is new to me, nice mango recipe..

aipi said...

That platter in the last pic is so tempting ~ nice recipe!
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Torviewtoronto said...

delicious looking mango dish

Prathima Rao said...

The kootan looks lip smacking good!!!
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Priya Suresh said...

Omg, wonderful looking incredible mangai kootan,makes me hungry..

Unknown said...

Spicy, tangy mangai kootan..

Neha said...

What a wonderful looking platter...yummy

Vidhya said...

I am literally drooling here,seeing your yummy mangai kootan.Thank you dear for sending this over to Kerala Kitchen.

Swathi said...

Love the mango kootan, I miss mangai here.

Rani acharyulu said...

Wonderful looking mango kootan..looks delicious!

Shylaja said...

Looks perfect and tempting Kaveri.Have never made this.Will try it
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c n natarajan said...

mangakootan is very good to eat with palakkadan pappadam. you know you can add elavan,vellarikai and even chakka kottai to it. it will be very goodl.

Sang said...

Kaveri, I tried this and has come out really good :) Keep posting more interesting recipes

Raja Sundareswaran Mumbai said...

Very nicely explained

Unknown said...

The Mango Kootaan or Mango Kaalan made in my home in Kerala by my aunt and mom is actually done with ripe mangoes, when you get a windfall of mangoes growing in your backyard or when mangoes are really cheap in the market. Also mangoes which are not usually eaten - the cheap vrieties are ideal for this recipe. We use really ripe mangoes, plop them into a pot after separating the pulp from the seed and removing the skin.Put the seed along with the pulp, because they are amazing to suck at the end of the meal. Addd turmeric , chilli powder and salt to taste. Grind coconut, green chillies and coconut with sour yogurt and add to the curry when the mangoes are cooked. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste. Add a bit of gur or sugar if needed. A tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chilli finishes off the dish. A variation is the mango pachadi in which everything is the same, except that you grind some mustard seeds -quite roughly - with a pinch of salt along with the coconut and green chillies and yougurt. That too is delicious. These dishes are very similar to yours except that you use green mangoes. The flavour will of course be different. Love your blog. Will experiment with all your recipes. Thank you.
Shreedevi Nair Pal

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