Secret Ingredient Kootu - Revealed!

Hello everybody! This was a dish that I tasted in my friend Indu's house a long time ago. She asked me to guess what the main ingredient was - I guessed but was not even close. But I loved the dish and when she told me what it was - I was impressed! And then this last week, I happened to have this ingredient at home and thought maybe I should do this for the blog! Thank you Indu for the idea!

This works best as a simple kootu recipe and goes as a great side dish with chappathis or even tastes great mixed with rice.

Here's the main ingredient - Yes...it is Watermelon indeed! Many of you guessed it right!

The part in between the red and the green - or simply said the white part of the melon is what you use to make the kootu. And from the comments, I've got many more ideas to use this - Rekha's Kitchen Rekha also makes Halwa with this! Wow!

Cut the white part into small pieces like this. You could use a peeler to peel away the green skin.

 

To make the kootu, take a wide pan. Add 1 tsp of oil. Do a tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves, 1/2 tsp urad daal and maybe a big pinch of jeera seeds. Add the chopped pieces of our secret ingredient in here and fry for a couple of mins. 

  

Add 11/2 cups of water to the this and let it cook in medium for about 10 mins or until soft. Add turmeric powder, salt to taste and 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder and mix well.

  

While that is cooking, in a small pan, dry roast these ingredients until golden - 2 tsp of Urad daal, 3-4 red chillies, a pinch of hing, 1/2 tsp of coriander seeds and 2 tsp of shredded coconut. Roast all together and grind to a smooth powder and then to a paste by adding water.

  

Checking back on our main pan, see how our chopped pieces have cooked well below?

  

Now add the ground paste to this. Add another cup of water or more if too thick and mix well. Add a little more salt if needed to taste.

  

 Let this now cook for another 5-8 mins. That's it - you're done!

  

Here's our wonderful tasting Kootu!

  

Enjoy. Peace out!