Kale Kootu ~ our favorite these days!

I always used to see these green leafy and lacy beauties, everytime we go grocery shopping. I just didn't know how it tasted. My uncertainty avoidance index has always been high, which totally explains why I never tried them before.

But one day, I just couldn't find anything interesting to go with rice. Same carrot, cabbage, beans everyday....I just wanted change. The first time I bought them, I tried a simple thoran. I could find its taste similar to Muringa ella (Drumstick leaves), which we like. So kale started accompanying us back home, after every grocery shopping.

Recently I tried a different approach to make it more tasty and wholesome. It was perfect - taste wise and look wise. We just loved it with steaming rice, Moru Kachiyathu and some Nadan Meen Curry.

You guys should try it and have it with rice. It is truly addictive but who cares, because its equally nutritious and healthy. We ate a little too much rice(couldn't resist it :P) than what we had an appetite for, which you should be careful about :).

Ingredients

1. 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
2. 1 tbsp of urad dal
3. A strand of curry leaves 
4. 4-5 red chilly
5. 1 tsp of cumin seeds/ jeerakam
6. Chopped green chilly as required
7. 1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
8. 1 tbsp of finely chopped garlic 
9. 3/4 cup of grated coconut
10. 3-4 shallots/ cheriya ulli - finely chopped
11. 1/2 cup of yellow split pea/chana dal/kadala parippu
12. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
13. 2 tbsp of oil
14. A bunch of Kale
15. Salt to taste

Method

• Wash the bunch of kale thoroughly. Cut out the leafy portion of the kale and chop it. Now chop the stem part of the kale that has been left behind. Keep them separate.
• In a pressure cooker, cook the yellow split pea/chana dal/kadala parippu. For me it took, 3 whistle on high heat to cook it. Keep it aside.
• In a wok, pour in the oil (ingredient 13) and drop in the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the urad dal,curry leaves and red chilly. 
• Once the dal gets roasted, drop in the cooked yellow split pea, chopped kale stem and turmeric powder. Add little water for it to cook.
• Once its almost cooked, add the chopped kale leaves and salt. Give it a thorough mix. Cover it and let it cook for 2 mins so that the leaves get steamed and cooked well.
• Meanwhile, grind the ingredients 5- 10 with 1-2 tbsp of water and add it to the wok. Mix it well and cook it open if there is more water that should evaporate.

Tips

1. Do not cook both stem and leaves together as it takes the stem a little longer to get cooked.
2. Do not over cook chana dal. It should not loose its shape at the same time should be soft and easier to chew.
3. I used Olive oil however, use of Coconut oil would enhance the taste. 

This recipe would work well with Mustard greens and Collard greens as well. I feel Spinach may not be a good idea to go with this recipe, as the water content in spinach leaves is towards the higher end. I haven't tried it though, but would definitely update if I try and if it works out well.