Chayote is mostly available in vegetable market throughout the year. Here I have prepared moru kootu (மோர் கூட்டு) using chayote.
Kootu is a healthy side dish prepared in Tamil Nadu. It is healthy because it uses less spices and oil. My family likes all types of kootu. This Seemai Kathrikai/Chow-Chow (Chayote) Moru Kootu is a nice combo for variety rice, pulikuzambu, chapathi etc. Seasoning this dish with coconut oil makes it more tastier.
Other dishes that I prepare with chayote are: Thuvayal, Adai (pancake).
Chayote is known as Seemai Kathrikai (சீமை கத்திரிக்காய்)/Chow-Chow (சௌ சௌ)/Bangalore Kathrikai (பெங்களூர் கத்திரிக்காய்) in Tamil. Buttermilk is known as moru (மோர்) in Tamil.
Ingredients
- Chayote chopped – 2 cup
- Sour curd/thick buttermilk – half cup
- Toor dal or pigeon pea – 1 tablespoon
- Bengal gram – 1 tablespoon
- Cumin seeds – half teaspoon
- Mustard – quarter teaspoon
- Coconut grated – 2 tablespoon
- Green chilli – 2 no
- Curry leaves – few
- Salt – as per taste
- Coconut oil/any edible oil – half teaspoon
Method
- Soak toor dal and Bengal gram for 30 minutes; grind it as a coarse paste by adding grated coconut, green chilli, one or two curry leaves and cumin seeds.
- In a pan, boil chopped chayote with salt till soft; add ground paste.
- Cook for few seconds (to ensure that spices get cooked); now add curd and mix.
- Boil for few minutes (add little water if required to get thinner consistency); now do seasoning separately (with mustard, curry leaves) in another small pan.
- Add seasoning and mix well.
- Now Seemai Kathrikai/Chow-Chow (Chayote) Moru Kootu is ready. Serve hot as a side dish.
Tips
- This dish can also be prepared with other veggie like bottle guard, ash guard, green leafy vegetables and cucumber.
{ 6 comments… add one }
lovely recipe
Wowww such a tempting and inviting kootu..
My all time favourite, best when made with ash guard.
chow-chow is my favourite and this looks yum !
Looks awesome. Are you saying that we can use spinach instead of chayote ? Will it be just the replacement or are there any other changes in the recipe ? Please advice.
@ Vidhya
Yes. You can use spinach instead of chayote without any changes in the recipe.