If you are from a south Indian household, you would know that no thali is complete without a kootu. It is a simple and delicious dish using lentils and vegetables usually served with rice. I love this version of instant pot mixed vegetable kootu. They are nutirtious, protein rich and sometimes perfect enough to eat on its own. If you haven’t tried eating it with some hot rice and a drizzle of nalla ennai (sesame oil), you got to try it now. It is just divine!
I usually just have a bowl full of hot kootu like a soup for a meal. In that case I add some extra channa dal or urad dal in the tadka for some crunch and flavor. It goes well with chapatis too. Most of the kootu recipes uses coconut and spices like cumin, pepper chillies. You can add veggies of your choice and get creative with the spices used.
This version of the mixed vegetable kootu is my friend Sukirti’s recipe. I usually just use one or two vegetables in my kootu. Couple of months back, when I visited her, she had made this for her lunch box the next day and I tasted it. It was really good, spicy from the black peppers and very flavorful. I got the recipe from her and found that it was very similar to what I usually do except for the addition of one or two ingredients. It is amazing how the inclusion of just one ingredient can elevate the dish so much.
She used a mix of veggies like cabbage, peas, carrots, potatoes. I thought it was a great way to eat more veggies. It is also a nice way to sneak in more veggies for the little ones at home 🙂
Here’s a picture of a South Indian thali I made this weekend which has the mixed vegetable kootu as one of the dishes 🙂 You can find recipes for some of the items here
Vegetables and lentils cooked with coconut and spices.
Switch on the saute mode (medium) in your instant pot. When the base becomes hot, add 1 tsp oil and add all the ingredients mentioned under "to grind" except the coconut. Saute them until the lentils start turning golden.
Now add the coconut and saute briefly (about a minute). Now set aside everything in a bowl to cool. When cool enough, grind the ingredients with little water to a thick paste.
Now add the remaning oil to the IP and add all the ingredients for the tadka. Let the mustard seeds pop. (Keep the saute mode high when you do the tadka)
Add the vegetables, turmeric powder, lentils, 2 cups water, salt and switch off the saute mode.
Add the ground paste to the IP and close the lid. Cook in manual high for 7 minutes. Release pressure after 8 to 10 minutes or you can wait for the pressure to subside.
Serve hot with rice/ rotis.
Heat your pressure cooker and add a tsp of oil. Add the ingredients for the ground paste (mentioned under "to grind") except the coconut and saute until the dals turn golden. Now add the coconut and saute for a minute. Grind everything to a thick paste with little water.
Add the rest of the ingredients (vegetables, lentils, salt, ground paste, turmeric powder, 2 cups water) and cook for 2 whistles. Open when the pressure settles naturally
Now make a tadka by heating the remaining oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and let the mustard seeds crackle. Add the tadka to the cooked kootu and mix well. Serve hot with rice/ chapatis.
*The kootu recipe has been updated with regards to the timings for the instant pot
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It was delicious! I made it with beets.
Thank you for the recipe
Came out very well. Family liked it very much 😊
So glad you and your family likd it :) Thank you for the feedback!
It was delicious! I added some rasam powder to the mix for extra flavour. Yum!
So glad you liked it! :) Thanks for the feedback!
It tasted great. I cooked it for only 3 minutes in the IP and it was enough to cook the dal and soften the vegetables. 15 minutes seems a little long - doesn't it get overcooked?
Yes, you could definietly cook it for a lesser time. We have always preferred a mushy kootu. But thats my family preference :) I think I will probably update the recipe regd the cook time. Thank you for the suggestion :)
Tried this for lunch today and my hubby was raving about the flavors! First time I tried kootu with carrot, beans and brocoli! And we loved it! Thanks for such easy to follow steps and instructions! Keep them coming!
Thank you Priya! Glad that you and your hubby liked it. It is one of my favorite recipes too.