Broad beans kootu is very common in my home. Broad beans is known as “avarakkai” in Tamil and “Sem” in Hindi. Though it is very common in my home, I realized that I have not shared this recipe yet. It is very simple and easy to make. I had a bounty harvest of broad beans from my kitchen garden. Homegrown vegetable are not only free of chemicals but also very tasty and cooks faster compared to the ones we get from the market. You can grow broad beans in grow bags, even if you have a small balcony. Now back to Tamil Brahmin Style Avarakkai Kootu Recipe with home grown avarakkai.
Avarakkai Kootu
Prep Time : 10 mins
Cook Time : 15 mins
Serves: 2
Recipe Category: Side Dish
Recipe Cuisine: Tamil Brahmin
Author:Padhu Sankar
Serves: 2
Recipe Category: Side Dish
Recipe Cuisine: Tamil Brahmin
Author:Padhu Sankar
Ingredients needed
Broad Beans – 1/4 kg (3 cups)
Mixed Dal – 1/3 cup (refer notes)
Sambar powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Salt needed
For grinding
Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Roasted gram dal (pottukadalai) – 1 tbsp
For the seasoning
Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a spig
For garnishing
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp finely chopped
Preparation
These broad beans are from my kitchen garden.
String the beans, wash and keep it ready.
Grind coconut, cumin seeds and roasted gram dal to a fine paste. If you do not have roasted gram dal, use 1 1/2 tsp of rice flour instead of roasted gram dal. It is added only for thickening the kootu. Our paste is kept ready.
Soak dal in hot water for 10 minutes. In the meantime, you can chop the broad beans thinly as shown in the picture below.
Method
In a pressure cooker or pan, add the chopped broad beans, dal, sambar powder, turmeric powder and salt needed.
Add half cup of water and mix well.
Close the cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles. If you do not have pressure cooker, you can make this is a kadai or any heavy bottomed pan but will take a longer time.
Once the pressure subsides, open the cooker, add the ground coconut paste and another half cup of water. Boil on medium heat until the kootu thickens slightly. The consistency of the kootu should neither be too thick nor thin.
Heat a tsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal and curry leaves. When dal turns golden brown, pour the seasoning over the kootu and mix well.
Notes – I have used a mix of 3 dals – Tur dal – 2 tbsp + moong dal – 1 tbsp + masoor dal – 1 tbsp. You can use a mix of dal or just moong dal or tur dal or masoor dal.
If using tur dal alone – You have to cook the dal separately and then add it to the cooked broad beans as it will not get cooked well along with the broad beans.
Variation – Instead of sambar powder, you can grind 1 or 2 green or dry red chillies along with coconut and cumin seed.
3 ways to enjoy broad beans kootu/avarakkai kootu – Mix it with hot rice topped with a tsp of ghee. You can have papads, pickle, any vegetable stir fry or salad as a side dish for this.
It can be had as a side dish for rasam or curd rice or any thogayal.
Have it as a side dish for chapati.
Broad beans (avarakkai ) growing in grow bags in my kitchen garden.
More Broad Beans Recipes
great…recipe and good to see the bb in your kitchen garden…wow…
Thank you very mucb Today I made Avarakkai Kootu. It came out very tasty
superb. You have a wonderful blog here.this kootu looks delicious.I tried the kambu dosa recipe and it came out perfect. I have a question. Where do you get those grow bags? I live in US and I am wondering if I can buy some when I visit India this summer and bring it with me. Can you please let me know ? Are they durable ?
Thank you Sathiya. Now a days, it is available in all shops which sell garden accessories. I got it from Coimbatore. They will last for more than a year. Mail to [email protected] for more details.
Tasty kootu, loved your kitchen garden.
Hi Padhu Sankar, I tried this recipe yesterday and it was delicious.
Awesome recipe. Can I add other vegetables to this kootu. Like posanikai or chow chow or anything else. Is there any vegetables which won't go well together ? Thanks
You can add chow chow, potato (chopped into small pieces), carrot and even cabbage. Do not add pumpkin or ashgourd.
Thanks a lot for your quick response.
Awesome recepie
Hai Padhu, I have tried and still would try many of your recepies. Happy that all the recepies came out very well. Before I came to know your site, I would cook only traditional dishes. Now I do a lot of new ones that none in my family have tried so far. Thank you for you easy and comprehensible way of explanation. Waiting for many more….
Masoor dal. Do you soak it for 8 hours or is it cooked straight?
Cook it straight. If needed soak for 10-15 mins in hot water.
Great recipe, thank you. Can I substitute green beans / French beans for the avarakkai in this recipe?
Yes