Milagai Kootu/Chilly kootu

I had few chilly peppers left in my fridge after making the spicy bhajjis/fritters with them. These light green to yellowish colored peppers are usually refereed to as ' bajji milagai' in South India. That's these peppers are commonly used to make the spicy fritters, which is a must in all the fares and beaches in south India... :D  The spiciness of these peppers is little bit more than bell peppers.  I just thought of trying some kootu with the left over peppers. It turned out to be really good and my hubby enjoyed it with his kuzhambu rice.



Things needed
Jalapenos - 6 nos. medium sized (chopped)
Kadalai paruppu/Bengal gram dal - 1Cup
Onion - 1 medium sized (chopped)
Tomato - 1 medium sized (chopped)
Garlic pearls - 3nos.
Oil - 1 Tsp
Mustard seeds/Kadugu - 1 Tsp
Jeera/ Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Salt - To taste


To grindJeera/Cumin seeds - 1tbsp
Coconut - 1/4 Cup


Soak kadalai paruppu in warm water for about 15minutes. Wash, de-seed the jalapenos and soak them in cold water for about 15 minutes. Finely chop the jalapenos. Add onions, tomatoes garlic to the dal and cook it on medium flame with lid closed until the dal is 3/4 cooked. Meanwhile, grind coconut and jeera into a coarse paste. When the dal is almost done, add chopped jalapenos to it.


Cook the mixture for 10 minutes, then mix in the ground coconut paste to it and cook covered for another 5 minutes. At this point adjust for salt and also check the consistency of the kootu. Let it be bit watery, and it would be good both with rice or chapatis.

As you could see, I have not used any additional spices to this dish. The spiciness from jalapenos are just enough for the kootu. The richness of the coconut paste and the spiciness of the jalapenos makes it very different from the usual kootus. 


This recipe goes to Susan's MLLA 26 event guest hosted by Simona.