Molagootal

This is probably one of those dishes that Kerala Pattars swear by and one of those dishes that one of us would never say No to.. 'Kootu' that Tamilians dish out, probably comes close but not quite :-).
It's essentially a mix of vegetables and dal that is easy on the palate and thus the popular choice when one is looking for a break from 'puli' laden dishes. You can either make Molagootals using just a single vegetable(typically - cabbage or Spinach) or can combine a couple of veggies( pumpkin, potato, ash gourd etc)..essentially use all those veggies that are vegetating in your fridge...but do not use veggies like brinjal or okra


Ingredients :-
1/2 cup dal
1 cup of vegetables
1 spoon turmeric powder
2 spoon of urad dal
4-5 red chillies
oil for seasoning

Method :-
Pressure cook the dal with some turmeric. Dice Vegetable and cook these in water. Add salt, some more turmeric and half a spoon of pepper. Once the veggies are cooked, add the cooked dal.
Roast Urad Dal and a couple of red chillies in half spoon of oil. Grind this along with Coconut, jeera and a spoon of rice. Add the required quantity of water while doing so, of you can use some of the liquid from the cooking veggies.
Grind to a fairly smooth paste and add this to the cooking mixture. Bring the stove down to a simmer.
To season - Roast Urad Dal in half a spoon of oil until it turns brown. Add red chillies and some mustard.
Finish the dish with some fresh Curry leaves.

Best served with rice and one of the following: Puliinji, Thogayal, Arachukalaki