Cook what you grow
Chayote Kootu (Coconut Lentil Stew)
The South Indian answer to a chayote glut: mild cubes simmered soft with yellow lentils, then finished with coconut and a crackling mustard seed tempering.
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Ingredients
serves 4From the garden
- 3 medium chayotes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes, seeds kept · The flat seed in the center is the sweetest, nuttiest part of the fruit, so cube it and cook it with the rest.
- 4 small shallots, thinly sliced · small red shallots are the everyday onion of a South Indian kitchen
- 2 green chiles, slit lengthwise · left whole so you can fish them out
- 1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated (optional) · or 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, which is what gives kootu its pale gold
- 1 sprig fresh curry leaves, leaves pulled from the stem (optional) · about a dozen leaves; fresh or frozen, never dried
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
From the pantry
- ¾ cup yellow lentils (moong dal or toor dal), rinsed until the water runs clear · moong dal cooks fastest and gives the creamiest kootu
- ¾ cup coconut milk · or 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut blended smooth with water
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black or brown mustard seed
- 2 tbsp coconut or neutral oil
- 1½ cups rice · for serving
- salt · to taste