Ground spice yellow dhal or Kootu

Growing up in a strictly vegetarian family myriad variety of dhals, pulses and whole grains were at the center of every meal along with rice.

My mother was so strict that she would add garlic to the food only on certain inauspicious days. And she had a wild supernatural story that one day when she made eggs she burned her hand and the resulting burn was exactly an egg shaped bubble. She called it divine retribution for cooking unholy non-vegetarian eggs! Her specialty which my brother, father and I loved were her ground spice Kootu or yellow dhal  with carrots, cabbages and beans. It’s not a sharp shooting green chili spicy but more, smoky, earthy and stimulating to the throat spicy. We would eat it with doses or Indian bread or rice. When you cook Indian food similar to Mexican cooking the staple is roasting and grinding of spices. I have tried the magic bullet grinder small and large, food processors, myriad kind of mixers but end up with the twisted or broken blade within months. Mr.Sweet Potato's addition to the kitchen the Cuisinart spice and nut grinder however gets my five star rating and it’s a must for all the crushing and grinding that goes with Indian cooking. 

After years of rejecting another addition by Mr. Sweet Potato to the kitchen, the Instant pot, I finally succumbed and embraced it to make the dhal. I learned the hard way that I should slow cook the dhal and not pressure cook it and the amount of water that goes in is double what I would use in a regular cooking pot. 

Now to share the great secret to my mothers cooking the final garnish with mustard seeds, urad dhal, red chilies and extra hing or asefotida powder added to oil and sautéed until the mustard seeds crack open and then the concoction is splashed with the great flourish on top of the dish. Every time my mother did this my brother would run into the kitchen enticed by the fragrance of the hing and the noise of crackling mustard seeds.

I make humongous quantities of yellow dhal which can be eaten through the week. It’s healthy, nourishing, simple and warms up any cold winter evening.

Bon Appetit! 

4 red chilies, 4 tablespoons of coriander seeds, 3 tablespoons of cumin seeds, 2 tsp of black pepper   

Sauté spices on pan 

Add to spice grinder 

Grind to fine powder 

Finely chop a whole head of cabbage 

3 cups of moong or yellow dhal 

Add to instapot with 8 cups of water 

Toast 2 cups of grated coconut 

Add ground spices and grated toasted coconut to pot  

Add diced cabbage to pot 

Slow cook until the dhal is cooked and blended with spices and add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter or ghee  

The holy grail of south Indian cooking 2 tsp of mustard seeds, 2 tsp of urad dhal, 2 red chilies, and 1 tsp of asafetida powder or hing  

Sauté in clarified butter or ghee

Add salt and sautéed spice above to pot 

Ground spice dhal ready to eat with rice or Indian bread 
Bon Appetit!