Koottu


Kootu is a lentil and vegetable stew in South Indian, particularly Tamil and Kerala cuisines. The etymology for kootu derives from the Tamil word “kootu” which means "add" i.e. vegetable added with lentils form the dish, which is semi-solid in consistency. The dish is noted for its nutty and complex flavors and textures, likely owing to the liberal addition of lentils and coconuts. It is typically less watery than sambhar, but more so than dry stir-fries. Virundhu Sappadu comes with a combination of boiled rice, sambar, rasam, curd, poriyal, kootu, appalam, pickles and banana. All kootus by default have some vegetables and lentils, but many variations of kootu exist:
Many other regional variations exist.