Chow chow kootu recipe, learn how to make chow chow kootu or chayote squash kootu recipe, a Tamil-style recipe that goes great with rasam and rice.
No kootu I’ve ever made has looked as pretty as this Chow Chow Kootu. The mom-in-law made this the day after they landed in Singapore earlier last month. Thank God I had some chow chow languishing in the fridge. Sometimes, letting vegetables stay in there results in good things – like this kootu.
You can also try making chow chow chutney recipe and chow chow sambar if you love this vegetable (also known as chayote squash) as much as we do.
Chow chow kootu recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups chow chow cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup channa dal / Bengal gram / kadala paruppu
Grind Together:
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- A pinch of turmeric
- 1 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 green chilli optional
- Salt to taste
For Tempering:
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dal optional
- A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
- A few curry leaves
Instructions
- Wash and soak the Bengal gram
- Add to the cut, cleaned chow chow
- Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil
- Add turmeric powder and a few curry leaves and cook on simmer until the chow chow is cooked soft and the Bengal gram is cooked yet firm (about 15-20 mins)
- Add salt
- While the chow chow and Bengal gram cooks, grind the ingredients under "grind together" with a bit of added water
- Add to the cooked chow chow mixture
- Mix well and simmer until all extra water is absorbed and the mixture takes a thick consistency
- Heat oil for tempering and add ingredients in the order given
- Once the mustard seeds pop and the urad dal turns brown (if using) dunk everything into the kootu mixture and mix well
- Adjust salt
- Serve hot with rice and kuzhambu of choice
Step by Step Chow Chow Kootu Recipe:
Wash and soak the Bengal gram for around 30 mins to 1 hour
Add to the cut, cleaned chow chow
Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil
Add turmeric powder and a few curry leaves and cook on simmer until the chow chow is cooked soft and the Bengal gram is cooked yet firm (about 15-20 mins)
Add salt
While the chow chow and Bengal gram cooks, grind the ingredients under “grind together” with a bit of added water
Add to the cooked chow chow mixture. Wash out the grinder and add 1 cup water to this mixture.
Mix well and simmer until all extra water is absorbed and the mixture takes a thick consistency
Heat oil for tempering and add ingredients in the order given
Once the mustard seeds pop and the urad dal turns brown (if using) dunk everything into the kootu mixture and mix well. Adjust salt. Serve hot with rice and kuzhambu of choice
to all kutu fans,
soak 2 -3 tsp of tur dal for half an hour. Add the tur dal, 1 tsp homemade sambhar powder and 8-10 curry leaves to the above ingredients (the green curry spots in the masala look very attractive and gives a very different tase and aroma) to the ingredients mentioned above for the kutu gravy… it tastes amazing as promised by my MIL.
Chow Chow can be replaced with white pumpkin (ash gourd), snake gourd, bottle gourd as the need or availability demands. Chow-chow is rarely available here.. but the Ash-Gourd kutu is heavenly and made at least once a week in our home.
As You said, the water need not be drained-i simply cook with it!
Hing / asafoetida should also be added after the cooking is done along with corriander leaves for garnish – then turn once.
Add 1-2 tbspn of curd just before serving.
Some MIL tips i follow with my eyes closed…
thanks anon!
sorry to sound stupid, but what is a chow chow? This looks good and would like to make it but don't know what a chow chow is?
chow chow is also called chayote squash. just do a google image search and you can see it.
I have tried making this kootu and it turned out well…
we make cucumber kootu instead of chow chow and dal replace cucumber. This looks soo good:)
soon i will make chow chow. mouth watering
good
Any way to make kootu without coconut? I'm allergic :(. My husband loves kootu but because of my allergy, i cant make any of them. Any ideas?
you could leave the coconut out and maybe add besan or rice flour mixed with water to thicken the gravy but it's definitely not going to taste as great.
hey, ive tried this recipe. it came out really well. today i tried this with raw papaya instead of chow chow. to my surprise it came out really well. thank u nagas for the wonderful recipe….
I tried it and turned out great. Thanks
Great Job.. !!! its' really nice for ppl who wanna try out different recipes… continue your good work.. 🙂