Pusnikai Kutu Poricha Kutu

Poricha Kutu Recipe with step by step pictures. Poricha kootu is a lentil and veggie based dish from South Indian cuisine. Paired with steamed rice, it makes a comforting and nutritious meal. A vegetarian meal.

In Tamil the word poricha means fried and kutu means mixture or mixture. Poricha kutu is made by frying or roasting urad dal (black gram) and red chillies. Black pepper is also added. It is basically a mixture of cooked lentils, vegetables and spices + coconut paste.

Sometimes I make kutu with some vegetables. I have shared Cabbage Kutu before. In this recipe I have used chai lau aka white pumpkin. Thus this recipe is also called Velai Pusanikai Kutu in Tamil.

Apart from white pumpkin, mixed vegetables or vegetables like snake gourd, pumpkin, chow chow, greens, broth, green beans, brinjal can be added. This pushnikai kutu recipe is an onion or garlic recipe.

Generally a kutu is thicker than a sambar. You can also tell kutu sabzi dal recipe. I have used mung dal in this recipe. You can even use arahar dal (tuvar dal).

Whenever I make recipes that use cooked dal, I usually cook both dal and rice together in the pressure cooker. When I have a lot of time, I cook dal separately. In this post I have cooked both mung dal and rice in pressure cooker.

This recipe of Poricha Kootu is spicy. Add less dried red chilies and black pepper to reduce the spice and heat.

Pusanikai Kutu is best served with steamed rice.

Step by step guide

How to make Poricha Kutu

a) Preparation of roasted and ground paste:

1. Heat a small pan. Keep the heat low and add 2 teaspoons of urad dal.

2. Stir frequently until the lentils are lightly golden and fragrant. But be careful not to burn them.

3. Add 1 to 2 bayadagi chilies or Kashmiri red chilies (halved and seeds removed). For less spicy you can add 1 dry red chili.

4. Keep stirring for a few seconds until the red chilies change color. Turn off the heat. Keep the fried urad dal and red chillies on a separate plate and let it cool.

6. In a small grinder jar, add fried urad dal and red chillies. Also add ½ tsp black pepper and 1 tsp cumin. You can add ¼ teaspoon black pepper for a less spicy taste.

7. Also add ¼ cup of freshly grated coconut.

8. Add ¼ to ⅓ cup water and grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

b) Cooking pulses

9. Rinse ⅓ cup mung beans several times in fresh water. Drain the water well and add the lentils to a bowl or small pan that we will place inside a 3 liter stovetop pressure cooker.

Then add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 cup water to the lentils.

10. Cover the pan or bowl with a lid. In the lower cooker, in another pan, I put the rice to cook. Also add 1.5 cups of water to the pressure cooker.

If you are cooking moong dal in a pot, add 2 cups of water.

11. Pressure cook on medium flame for 6 to 7 whistles or 9 to 10 minutes. The rice I used is hand pound rice (soaked 30 minutes before) which takes a long time to cook. If using white rice, cook the rice and pulses separately.

12. When the pressure settles on its own, just open the lid and carefully remove the bowl with tweezers. Mash the cooked dal and keep aside.

making Pusnikai Kutu

13. When the dal is pressure cooked, you can cook the chai karala. In a separate pan or bowl, take 1.5 cups of peeled and chopped bitter gourd.

14. Add ½ cup of water.

15. Cover the pan and cook the gourds on a medium-low flame.

16. Check in between. If the water evaporates, you can add some more water and continue cooking covered.

17. Bake the gourds for 14 to 15 minutes or until tender and cooked through.

18. Lower the heat or you can switch off the flame. Add mashed dal and ground paste.

19. Also add salt as per taste.

20. Add ½ to ¾ cup water or as required. The amount of water can be added as per your wish. ½ cup water gives a thick consistency.

21. Stir and mix very well.

22. Cook the kutu on low heat till it starts to boil gently. Stir while cooking, so that the mung dal does not stick to the bottom of the pan. When the gourd boils, switch off the flame and cover the pan.

Clothing is tempering for Kutu

23. Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.

24. Keep the heat low. Then add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds.

25. Add half a teaspoon of urad dal.

26. Fry until the mustard seeds crackle and the urad dal turns golden. Instead of coconut oil, you can also use cold-pressed sesame oil (gingelly oil) or peanut or sunflower oil.

27. Then add 10 to 12 curry leaves and a pinch of hing (hing). Stir and then turn off the heat.

28. Pour the tempered ingredients into the velai pushanikai kutu.

29. Cover the pan for 5 minutes to allow the tempering flavors to penetrate the Pusnikai Kutu.

30. Serve white pumpkin kutu with steamed rice. You can also add few chopped coriander leaves as garnish while serving.

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This Pusanikai Kutu post from the archives, originally published in February 2018 and republished in January 2023.