Kathirikai Kootu Recipe | Brinjal Lentil Curry Recipe

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Kathirikai Kootu is a Tamil Grandmother recipe, guaranteed to wow your relatives!

Whole Food Plant Based Kathirikai Kootu Recipe

Course: Course 2: Vegetable Dish / Side dish for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2 people

INGREDIENTS

1. 1/4 cup Moong Dal Green Gram Dal / Paasi Paruppu / Paithamparuppu
2. 1 tbsp Peanuts
3. 4 medium Kathirikai / Brinjals

Kathirikai Kootu Podi Masala

1. 1 tbsp Mildly Roasted Peanuts (not browned!)
2. 1 tsp Urad Dal Black Gram Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Uddina Bele
3. 1 tsp Pepper Powder
4. 1/2 tsp Tumeric Powder
5. 2 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Replacement. See Nutrition Science Highlights below for details)
6. Juice of 1 Lemon
7. 10 Curry Leaves
8. 1 tsp Mustard Seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

Kathirikai Kootu Podi Masala

1. Dry roast urad dal until light brown. Do not allow to darken or burn. Remove from stove and keep aside.
2. Dry roast mustard until it begins sputtering. As soon as it starts sputtering, switch off stove and transfer to a cup.
3. Grind all kathirikai kootu podi masala ingredients (except mustard seeds) into a paste, then mix mustard seeds into it.

Kathirikai Kootu

1. Preferably, soak moong dal overnight or at least for 4-5 hours. Take soaked moong dal in vessel, add enough water to cover the dal and start cooking with a partially closed lid.
2. Remove stems and chop each kathirika / brinjal into 4 quarters. Add to the moong dal after about ten minutes of cooking. Stir from time to time and add water if required. The final consistency should be a thick, pourable liquid. While this is cooking, you can prepare the kootu masala as outlined above.
3. Once kathirikai / brinjal is fully cooked, switch off stove and mix in masala. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve fresh!

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Kathirikai Kootu Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why mustard seeds? Myrosinase, an important enzyme in cruciferous vegetables such as knol kohl, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, and broccoli, is essential to form sulforaphance, a powerful anti-cancer compound in the body when we consume these vegetables. However, when they are cooked, myrosinase gets deactivated and sulforaphane does not get synthesised. By adding raw or slightly roasted mustard seeds, or a little of any raw cruciferous vegetable to the dish after cooking, we can add myrosinase back into the dish and protect the powerful anti-cancer functions of cruciferous vegetables.