Tirunelveli famous Kootanchoru @ kadamba sadam is one of the signature recipes of my mom. Mostly Nellai people make this rice for picnic / trips and for guests. This is one of the best foods for travel. It stays good for one to two days without refrigeration. When (me & my sis) we were young, we used to go to thatha, aachi’s house in Nellai for every summer vacation.
My periamma and chithi also comes with their family. We go for a one day trip to Tiruchendur & Kutralam every year. Amma, Periamma and Chithi together prepare this rice in early morning in a big eeya paanai traditionally for 10-12 people and pack in a big vaali (thooku chatti) for travel. We have this rice for lunch in a piece of vazhai ilai(banana leaf) after a nice bath in five falls, Kutralam. With the awesome smell of banana leaf, it tastes great & we all have minimum of two servings. Vathal/vadagam or appalam is the best side dish for kootanchoru. This rice tastes the best after it cools down.
Last week my mom was with me for two days. I told her to prepare this rice for our lunch and of course for blogging because some of my Nellai readers asked me to share kootanchoru recipe after trying my
uluntham paruppu sadam. I asked my mom to prepare using pressure cooker but mom said making this rice in eeya paanai or indalium vessel or kadai gives the right consistency to the rice, vegetables and tastes great. As she said, it was very flavourful and tasty. But she also told the method on how to make in pressure cooker if needed. I have shared it below.
Kootanchoru is very easy to prepare if you have chopped onions & vegetables ready in hand. It takes just 20 minutes to prepare this rice. I personally feel, it is better to do chopping & grinding work the previous night if you plan to make this rice for next day travel. Sendhil had it for the first time and loved it. We had this rice for lunch and the leftover for dinner too. My mom & dad packed this rice in a foil box & took it for their train journey. Friends if you plan for a picnic,do prepare this rice. I am sure you can have a delectable lunch.
Kootanchoru recipe
Tirunelveli style kootanchoru recipe – Ideal & tasty food for travel !
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Lunch
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 Minutes
Cook time: 30 Minutes
Total time: 50 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
To chop
- Carrot - 2 nos
- Beans - 10 nos
- Potato - 1 no (big)
- Broad beans - 10 nos
- Raw banana - 1/2 no
- Raw mango - 1/2 no
- Brinjal - 3 nos
- Drumstick - 1 no
- Drumstick leaves & arai keerai – a handful
To cook
- Rice - 1.5cups
- Toor dal - 1/2 cup
- Water - 12 cups
- Tamarind – Small lemon size ( use big lemon size if you don’t add raw mangoes)
To grind
Paste -1
- Red chillies – 12-14 (adjust)
Paste-2
- Small onions – 30 - 40 nos (3/4 cup)
- Garlic cloves - 2 bulbs(small) or 1 bulb if big variety
- Jeera- 1 tsp
To saute
- Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
- Small onions - 15
- Green chillies – 2 TO 4( adjust)
Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
To temper
- Gingely oil - 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Urad dal – 1 tsp
- Vadagam – 2-3 tbsp (OR)Small onions - 20 nos(finely chopped)
- Curry leaves – half handful
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HOW TO MAKE KOOTANCHORU - METHOD
- Grind red chillies adding required water to make a smooth paste. This is paste-1.Set aside.
- Wash and peel the small onions, garlic cloves and grind with jeera & water to make paste-2.
- Soak tamarind in enough water. Take the extract using 1.5 cups of water and mix the paste-1 & paste-2, turmeric powder and salt.
- Wash and chop all the vegetables of uniform size and keep the raw banana & potato cubes immersed in water till use. Chop drumstick, chop raw mango into big cubes as shown in the picture.
- In a big vessel(preferably, eeya paanai or indalium vessel) take the mentioned quantity of water. When the water starts to boil, add toor dal, turmeric powder. Allow it to cook till the dal blossoms. It should be mashable.
- After the dal is 3/4th cooked, add all the vegetables & keerai (greens) except raw mango pieces. It takes 10 minutes for all the vegetables to cook. Keep stirring whenever necessary.
- After 10 minutes, wash and add the rice. Again boil for 10-15 minutes and check whether rice is done. Rice absorbs all the water and gets cooked. Add the required salt.
- Check if the rice is cooked properly. Use back of the ladle to mix the rice to avoid it turning too mushy. In the mean time, heat 1tbsp oil in a kadai and saute onions, green chillies & add to rice.
- Now add mango pieces. It takes 5 minutes & mango pieces will be half cooked.
- Now add the tamarind extract mixture and allow it to boil for 5 minutes in medium flame. Keep stirring every now & then to avoid burnt bottom.
- Remove the mango pieces alone after it is cooked yet firm in shape else mango will become mushy & mixed with the rice completely leaving the skin. It makes the rice tangy.
- Use back of the ladle or fork like ladle to mix the rice. Lastly add grated coconut & mix well.
- Finally, temper all the ingredients given under”to temper” and add to the rice. Rice looks mushy initially but its consistency will get adjusted after it cools down.
Just before serving,add the cooked raw mango pieces & mix well.
- Give a standing time of minimum one-two hours because it takes this time for all the taste to blend well with the rice.
Serve with koozh vathal/Vadam..!! Tastes great !!
**Do not use your hands at any cost while serving. Rice will be spoiled very soon. So always use a ladle. |
PRESSURE COOKER METHOD
- Take toor dal with 2 cups of water in pressure cooker and cook in high flame for 2-3 whistles.
- Remove the lid and add the rice and chopped vegetables except raw mango.Cook it adding 6 cups of water & salt.
- After rice is cooked,open the lid and add the sauteed onions, chillies, tamarind extract mixture & raw mango pieces & salt if needed.
- Allow the raw mango to cook well. Rice absorbs all the tamarind extract mixture. Use fork like ladle to mix the rice. Simmer the flame & boil for few minutes.
- Lastly add grated coconut & tempered ingredients. Mix well, check for taste. Give a standing time of 1-2 hours & serve with vathal/vadam.
TIPS TIPS
- If the rice is too spicy, add little tamarind extract & grated coconut. It balances the taste.
- If the rice is too tangy, add some chilli powder mixed in water & boil for sometime with rice. Add little salt if needed.
- Adding a handful of drumstick leaves & arai keerai is suggested for this rice. But I din’t add both as I din’t have the stock.
- Raw mango is purely optional but it gives a nice flavour to this rice. If you don’t add raw mango pieces, use big lemon size tamarind.
- Adjust the quantity of red chillies based on your taste buds. But use tamarind in correct quantity if u reduce chillies.
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Pack this rice in a foil box for your travel and enjoy with vadagam/Vathal & appalam. It tastes great !!!
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