Hotel-style kootu recipe – Easy to make South Indian hotel-style snake gourd kootu recipe with step-by-step pictures and full video.
We usually make kootu | poricha kootu without onion and garlic. Whenever we order South meals in hotels, we get a kootu in the thali. It goes well with chapati and poori also, they give in the thali meal. I always wanted to try out this kootu at home.
A few weeks back, when we had lunch at a South Indian restaurant here. So sharing today the Tamilnadu Hotel Kootu recipe. We are adding garlic, onion, and tomato to this kootu. I used snake gourd in this recipe. You can use ash gourd, chow chow, avarakkai, beans carrot peas, cabbage, or ridge gourd for making this kootu. Even keerai | spinach can be used for making this Hotel style kootu.
Also check out Hotel sambar, Hotel style paruppu rasam, Instant mor kuzhambu
Hotel style kootu recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped snake gourd
- ½ cup yellow moong dal uncooked
- 3 tbsp chana dal
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- A pinch of asafoetida
- Water as needed
- Curry leaves few
- Salt to taste
- 4 tbsp coconut
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 green chilis
Instructions
- In a vessel add the yellow moong dal and chana dal.
- Wash it well and add the garlic cloves, chopped tomato and onion.
- Add the red chili powder and turmeric powder.
- Add 1.5 cups of water to this.
- Now top it up with the chopped snake gourd. You can add any vegetable of your choice.
- Check out the ‘Notes’ section to see the options.
- Since we are topping the veggies on the top, it won’t turn mushy while we cook this.
- Now pressure cook this for 4-5 whistles.
- Grind the coconut, green chili and cumin seeds into a fine paste.
- I added 1 green chili and later felt it was less.
- In a pan add the oil and mustard seeds.
- Once it starts to splutter, add the curry leaves and asafoetida to this.
- Now add the cooked dal and vegetable mixture to this.
- Add the ground coconut paste.
- Now add ½ cup-1 cup of water to adjust the consistency.
- Add in the salt.
- Mix well and let this boil for 5 minutes. Keep stirring in between.
- Switch off the flame.
- You can serve this with plain rice or with dosai and chapathi too.
- This kootu pairs well with rice and kara kuzhambu too.
Video
Notes
- In a vessel add the yellow moong dal and chana dal.
- Wash it well and add the garlic cloves, chopped tomato, and onion.
- Add the red chili powder and turmeric powder.
- Add 1.5 cups of water to this.
- Now top it up with the chopped snake gourd. You can add any vegetable of your choice.

- Check out the ‘Notes’ section to see the options.
- Since we are topping the veggies on the top, it won’t turn mushy while we cook this.
- Now pressure cook this for 4-5 whistles.

- Grind the coconut, green chili, and cumin seeds into a fine paste.
- I added 1 green chili and later felt it was less.

- In a pan add the oil and mustard seeds.
- Once it starts to splutter, add the curry leaves and asafoetida to this.
- Now add the cooked dal and vegetable mixture to this.

- Add the ground coconut paste.
- Now add ½ cup-1 cup of water to adjust the consistency.
- Add in the salt.
- Mix well and let this boil for 5 minutes. Keep stirring in between.

- Switch off the flame.
- You can serve this with plain rice or with dosai and chapati too.
- This kootu pairs well with rice and kara kuzhambu too.

Notes:
- You can use cabbage, beans, carrot, avarakkai, bottle gourd, ash gourd, chow chow, or keerai instead of snake gourd.
- This hotel-style kootu goes well with chapati too.