Carrot Kootu | Carrot and Lentil Curry

by Jiya Jesh ·

Carrot Kootu – comforting South Indian style stew of carrots and lentils in a coconut based gravy.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped carrots

• 1/3 cup toor dal ( split pigeon pea / thuvaram paruppu )

• 1 onion small

• 1 tomato medium-sized

• 2 large garlic cloves

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

• 5 tbsp grated coconut

• 1-2 green chillies

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

• 1/2 tsp split urad dal (without skin)

• A few curry leaves

• 1 tsp oil

Instructions

1. Wash toor dal and soak the dal in enough water for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile peel the skin of carrots and chop them into small cubes. Also, finely chop onions, garlic and tomatoes.

3. Grind the grated coconut along with chopped green chillies to a fine paste by adding little water and set this aside.

4. Drain the soaked water from dal. Pressure cook the soaked dal along with chopped onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots and turmeric powder with 1 cup water for 2 whistles on a medium flame.

5. Once the pressure gets released from the cooker, remove the lid of the cooker and mash the dal slightly.

6. Heat oil in a kadai or pan. Add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add urad dal and curry leaves.

7. Once dal turns brown, add the cooked dal-vegetable mixture and mix.

8. Add the ground coconut paste and salt and mix well.

9. Add 3/4 cup water and let the gravy simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes.

10. Once the gravy thickens to desired consistency, remove from heat.

11. Carrot kootu is now ready to be served.

Notes

• The curry will thicken with time. So cook to consistency required.

• Carrot kootu tastes great when served with rice and a dollop of ghee. Add ghee when you are serving to kids. It tastes good when served with rotis / chapathis too.