This is a very tasty side dish for rice, that is made from unripe tomatoes. It has its own unique sour taste. The tomatoes are cooked with split moong dal and coconut paste. In this recipe, I am using tomatoes from our garden. I make this dish often in the summertime, when tomatoes are bountiful in our garden. During the wintertime, I pick green tomatoes from my local vegetable shop. I remember onetime, the person working in the check-out counter was very confused seeing my bag with all unripe, green tomatoes. She probably was wondering about my tomato-picking abilities!

If you’ve never had a dish with unripe tomatoes, I suggest you to try this out! .

Ingredients

• Unripe tomatoes ——————- 8 (Medium & Small size)
• Split moong dal ——————— 1/2 cup
• Chili powder ————————– 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder —————— 1/4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• To make coconut paste
  • Grated coconut —————- 1/2 cup
  • Cumin seeds ——————– 1/ 2 tsp
  • Garlic pods ———————– 2
• For seasoning
  • Cooking oil ———————— 1 tbsp
  • Dry chilies ————————- 2
  • Mustard seeds —————— 1/2 tsp
  • Urad dal —————————— 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves ———————- 2 springs

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How to make

• Wash the tomatoes and slice them into medium size pieces
• Grind the grated coconut, garlic and cumin seeds into a medium fine paste
• Place a pot or a pan on the stove in medium heat
• Add the moong dal and dry roast for 3 minutes
• Then add 1 1/2 cups of water and turmeric powder, cook it until the moong dal becomes tender

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• Now add the cut tomatoes, chili powder and salt
• Cook them for around 7 minutes
• Then add the coconut paste and cook for 3 more minutes

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• Now place a small pan on the stove in medium heat
• Add oil and mustard seeds
• Once the mustard crackles, add the urad dal, dry chilies and curry leaves
• Pour this into the pot

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• Now the tasty green tomato kootu is ready to serve with rice