Poosanikkai Kootu – White Pumpkin Kootu

This Poosanikkai kootu or White Pumpkin Kootu is made the traditional South Indian way by cooking the vegetable in tamarind juice and then flavoring it with spices. Ash Gourd Kootu can be a good side for traditional white rice as lunch or dinner

Poosanikkai, also known as ash gourd is the newfound happiness for our family. After our move to the South, I can very easily find this vegetable in the local Indian or Asian markets and I have been cooking marathons with this vegetable.

Back in the North East where this vegetable was not available quite readily, I used Chow - chow (Chayote squash) as the substitute.

There are several different types of kootu/stew that can be made, but a few days back I had come across this recipe where the author had cooked it with garbanzo beans/chickpeas.

We love channa (garbanzo beans/chickpeas) and use it often in our house. My older son especially loves channa and I try to make it often for him.

One of the most made recipes with chickpeas apart from chole masala would be this quick channa chaat that I make for him as an evening snack.

This Ash Gourd kootu is made in the traditional South Indian way by cooking the vegetable in tamarind juice and then flavoring it with spices.

Preparation time - 10 minutes Cooking time - 40 minutes Difficulty level - easy Recipe adapted from - Padhu’s Kitchen

Poosanikkai Kootu in a pan wih curry leaves - 2

Ingredients to make Poosanikkai Kootu - serves 4

Poosinikkai / white pumpkin/ash gourd - 3 cups (diced into ½ inch cubes)
Tuvaram paruppu / Toor Dal - ⅓ cup
Tamarind - a small lime size piece
Chickpeas/ channa / Kondaikadalai - 1 can (14 oz) or about a handful of dry ones (optional)
Sambhar powder - ½ tsp
Salt - to taste

To roast and grind -

Kadalai paruppu / Bengal gram dal - 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Ullutham paruppu / urad dal - 1 tsp
Red chilies - 4 or 5
Coconut - ¼ cup (grated)
Oil - 1 tsp

For seasoning the Poosanikkai Kootu -

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Ullutham paruppu - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Asafetida - a pinch
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure to make White Pumpkin Kootu -

Wash and cook the Tuvaram paruppu / toor dal in a pressure cooker until soft and mushy. Add a pinch of turmeric powder when cooking the dal.
If using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight in enough water and cook it also in the cooker along with the toor dal.
Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract its pulp. Squeeze it one more time and remove the juice.
Fry the ingredients mentioned under ’to roast and grind’ in 1 teaspoon of oil. When it cools down a bit, grind it to a paste and keep it aside.

Wash, peel, and chop the pumpkin into small cubes. Add this to the pan along with the extracted tamarind pulp. Make sure that the tamarind extract covers the vegetable, if not add more water to cover the vegetable. Also, add the cooked or canned chick peas to this along with salt and sambhar powder and let it come to a boil over medium flame.

Let the vegetable cook well and then add the ground paste. Mix well and then add the cooked tuvar dal.

Let Poosanikkai Kootu come to a gentle boil and then simmer for few minutes.
Heat a small pan with 1 teaspoon of oil and then add the seasoning ingredients. Add it to the simmering White Pumpkin kootu and mix well. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice and a dollop of ghee.

More Side Dishes

Pineapple Rasam | Spicy Indian style Pineapple Soup
Vegetable Kurma | Vegetable Korma | Mixed Vegetables In Spicy Indian Gravy
Podalangai Curry | South Indian Dry Snake Gourd Curry
Kathirikkai Kaara Kuzhambu - Spicy Brinjal Kaara Kuzhambu - Eggplant Kara Kuzhambu

Recipe

Equipment

▢ pan

Ingredients

▢ 3 cups Poosinikkai / white pumpkin/ash gourd Diced into ½ inch cubes
▢ ⅓ cup Tuvaram paruppu / Toor Dal
▢ lime size piece Tamarind
▢ 1 can Chickpeas/ channa / Kondaikadalai 14 oz or about a handful of dry ones (optional)
▢ ½ teaspoon Sambhar powder
▢ to taste Salt

TO ROAST AND GRIND -

▢ 2 tbsp. Kadalai paruppu / Bengal gram dal
▢ 1 tbsp. Coriander seeds
▢ 1 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu / urad dal
▢ 4 Red chilies
▢ ¼ cup Coconut Grated
▢ 1 teaspoon Oil

FOR SEASONING -

▢ 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
▢ 1 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu
▢ few Curry leaves - few
▢ a pinch Asafetida
▢ 1 teaspoon Oil

Instructions

Wash and cook the Tuvaram paruppu / toor dal in a pressure cooker until soft and mushy. Add a pinch of turmeric powder when cooking the dal.
If using dry chickpeas, soak it overnight in enough water and cook it also in the cooker along with the toor dal.
Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract its pulp. Squeeze it one more time and remove the juice.
Fry the ingredients mentioned under ’to roast and grind’ in 1 teaspoon of oil. When it cools down a bit, grind it to a paste and keep it aside.
Wash, peel, and chop the pumpkin into small cubes. Add this to the pan along with the extracted tamarind pulp. Make sure that the tamarind extract covers the vegetable, if not add more water to cover the vegetable. Also add the cooked or the canned chick peas to this along with salt and sambhar powder and let it come to a boil over medium flame.
Let the vegetable cook well and then add the ground paste. Mix well and then add the cooked tuvar dal.
Let it come to a gentle boil and then simmer for a few minutes.
Heat a small pan with 1 teaspoon of oil and then add the seasoning ingredients. Add it to the simmering kootu and mix well. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice and a dollop of ghee.

Nutrition

More Kootu

Parangikai Paal Kootu | Tender Yellow Pumpkin Kootu
Keerai Molagootal | Spinach Kootu | Keerai Kootu
Pavakkai Pitlai | Bitter gourd Pitlai
Kathirikkai Gothsu | Eggplant Gothsu | Brinjal Gothsu