Koottu (with Channa dhal)

Ingredients
- 2 cups snake gourd or cluster beans
- 1/2 cup channa dhal
- 1 cup cocounut
- 2-4 red chillies
- 2 teaspoon Jeera
- 1 teaspoon rice flour
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon hing

Seasoning:
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dhal
- few peanuts
- sprig of curry leaves

Method
1. Boil channa dhal till it becomes tender.
2. Add the hard vegetable like potatoes and carrots and once they are half cooked add the rest of the vegetables. Add salt and turmeric. Let it boil for 5 more minutes.
3. Grid jeera, red chillies, coconut and rice flour to a fine paste. Add the ground mixture to the boiled vegetables and boil for another 5 minutes.
4. Heat oil a separate pan, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the jeera, urad dhal and hing powder. Fry till they turn brown. Lastly add curry leaves and immediately add to the boiling kootu.

Variation 1:

Follow the same method and instead of a single vegetable use a mixture of vegetables like beans, carrots, potatoes, peas tomatoes etc.

Variation 2:

Instead of channa dhal boil some lima beans and add it and follow the same process.

This kootu tastes very good with rice.