This Instant pot Keerai kootu is a comforting dal recipe made with lentils, greens like spinach & Kale, simple spices and coconut. This staple dish from Sothern India goes very well with some rice, rotis or as a soup!
Kootu is a staple dish in any south Indian Household. Just like a dal is an integral part of a North Indian cuisine, a kootu is an important pot of our diet. It is a south Indian equivalent to dal and appearence in most South Indian households.
There are various Kootu recipes and you can make a different kootu everday in a week and not get bored. It can be mixed with rice, eaten with rotis, eaten as a side with rasam/ kuzhambu sadham or just enjoed as a soup!
Other kootu recipes you might like –
What is a Kootu?
Kootu is a South Indian dish with lentils, vegetables and a spice paste which usually contains coconut. It is similar to dal, except for the fact that a kootu always has a vegetable in it along with some freshly ground spices. It is a comfort dish of sorts in many South Indian households.
Most of the kootu has No Onion or Garlic in it. This makes it perfect for making these during auspicious days, vrat, or just those looking to avoid it for personal reasons.
What lentil can I use to make this Keerai Kootu?
I love pairing “>Toor dal (pigeon peas / tuvar dal) with spinach. But moong dal or masoor dal works well too.
What all greens / veggies can I use in this keerai kootu recipe?
You can use all sorts of veggies and greens in a kootu. Usually I like to use spinach, chard, rainbow chard, kale or Indian variety of greens if I can find them in the recipe. If you would like to add other veggies, you could use veggies like cabbage, chayote squash, carrots, green peas, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, zucchini etc.
Why should you make this Instant pot Keerai Kootu recipe?
- Nutritious and Healthy
- Goodness of greens
- Comfrting and delicious
- Vegan
- One pot recipe
- Can be made in advance and frozen
How to make this Instant pot Keerai kootu recipe?
It is a pretty simple recipe!
First I like to chop the greens finely using my “>food processor ( Makes the whole process so much more easier than chopping it by hand)
Then I make a simple tadka with mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal, asafoetida Add the chopped greens, some tamarind extract, water and a grolund masala paste.
The masala paste is made with some dried red chillies, roasted urad dal, coconut and some water.
Once the spice mixture is added, I add the toor dal (lentils). Then add salt and cook in manual mode / pressure cook mode for 20 minutes. Release pressure naturally.
So simple!! And the best part is this is you can add everything to the pot and finish the rest of your cooking!
I like to pair this kootu with some plain rice, spicy vathal kuzhambu or milagu kuzhambu and some rasam. Make all these dishes for your lunch one weekend. You will have a perfect South Indian Tambram thali / meal 🙂
Healthy kale and spinach with lentils. coconut and spices dish, South Indian style
- 5 cups chopped greens ( spinach and kale)
- 1/2 cup toor dal / Pigeon peas
- 1 small lemon size tamarind
- 5 to 6 curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1/8 tsp asafoetida
- salt to taste
- 11/2 tsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp urad dal
- 1/3 cup grated coconut
- 3 dried red chillies or to taste
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Soak the tamarind in 2 cups hot water and extract the juice from the tamarind.
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Chop the greens (spinach and kale) finely using a food processor or by hand and set it aside.
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Switch on the instant pot and heat it. When it becomes hot, add 1/2 tsp oil and add the urad dal, dried red chillies needed for the spice mix and saute until the lentils turn golden brown.
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Grind it along with coconut and little water to smooth paste.
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Now add the aremaining oil, when it becomes hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves, asafoetida, urad dal and let the mustard seeds pop.
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Add the chopped greens, tamarind extract, 1/2 cups water, turmeric, salt, ground coconut mixture and cook on manual / pressure cook mode for 12 minutes.
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Release pressure naturally. Serve hot the Instant pot Keerai kootu with rice/ rotis.
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Soak the tamarind in 2 cups hot water and extract the juice from the tamarind.
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Add a tsp of oil to a pan and add the urad, red chillies needed for the spice mix and saute until golden brown. Then grind the urad dal and red chillies with coconut to a smooth paste.
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Add the remaining oil to a pressure cooker, when it becomes hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, urad dal and let the mustard seeds splutter.
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Now add the chopped greens, tamarind water, 1 cup water, salt, turmeric powder, ground paste and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally.
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Serve keerai kootu with rice/ rotis.
- I find that toor dal takes a longer time to become completely soft and mushy in the instant pot when cooking along with tamarind. So I cook them longer. If you are using moong dal/ masoor dal, you can cook it for 5 to 6 minutes and release pressure naturally.
- You can also use already cooked dal/ frozen cooked dal in the recipe. In that case you can cook the kootu for 3 minutes and release pressure naturally.
- Greens like rainbow chard, mustard greens, chard or other green varieties can be used in the recipe.
** This recipe has been updated with respect to the cooking times in the Instant pot
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