Thani Kootu is a popular Thanjavur recipe traditionally prepared for Sumangali Prarthanai. Thani Kootu is a delicious and tangy South Indian recipe made with tamarind, freshly ground spices along with jaggery. It is generally serve with plain steamed rice or can be served as side dish for rice. Generally for any stew, we prepare without tamarind and also we grind coconut with cumin and red chili and add it to the cooked vegetable along with cooked dal. For stew we use veggies like snake gourd, chow chow, spinach etc. But for thani kootu we don’t use any vegetable. Thats the main reason this recipe got this name. Thani means stand alone in Tamil. For any vegetable kootu this will be the base gravy. We can add cooked pumpkin, chow chow, snake gourd etc.
In this thani kootu, we don’t add cooked dal. We fry dals along with red chilli and pepper and then fry the grated coconut and grind it to a smooth paste. This paste is added to tamarind juice and together everything gets cooked. Another main ingredient is jaggery. I have seen people using the same amount of jaggery as of tamarind they use for this thani kootu. Jaggery brings out the tanginess of the tamarind in a nice way.
I love to serve this thani kootu with hot steaming rice along with a teaspoon of ghee or sesame oil. Once this base stew is ready, we can add cooked raw banana, brinjal, chow chow or even cluster beans.
If you like this Thani Kootu, then you can also try other interesting local recipes
- Kumabakonam Kadappa - Onions and Potatoes cooked with fennel and garlic flavored coconut gravy is a perfect accompaniment for hot Idli. This is one of the popular dish in Kumbakonam and usually served as an accompaniment to idli.
- Nella Puliyita Poricha Kuzhambu - Puliitta Poricha Kuzhambu is a vegetable rich kuzhambu, rich in flavor and taste. It's like Arachu Vitta sambar but with slight changes on the ingredients used. It can be served with rice and spoon of ghee.
- Kerala Puli Aviyal - Mixed veggies are cooked and concocted with tamarind and coconut+green chili based spice to gat this tasty and yummy Aviyal. This is Kerala Style Tamarind based Aviyal contrast to curd based aviyal which we make for Adai
Recipe Card for Thani Kootu Recipe:
Thani Kootu Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 gooseberry size Tamarind
- 1 teaspoon Salt Adjust As Needed
- 1 Pinch Asafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)
- 2 teaspoon Grated Jaggery
For Grinding
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- 2 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
- 2 teaspoon Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
- 2 teaspoon Whole Urad Dal
- 0.5 teaspoon Peppercorns
- 3 Red Chili
- 1 tablespoon Grated Coconut
For Tempering
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- Few Curry Leaves
Instructions
Soaking Tamarind
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 mins and extract the juice
Frying Process
- Heat oil in a pan. Add all the grinding ingredients except coconut and fry till dals turn light brown. Then add grated coconut and fry till it becomes golden brown. Cool the roasted ingredients.
Grinding Process
- Take the roasted ingredients in a mixer jar and Grind everything to a smooth paste.
Tempering Process
- Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then add curry leaves and sauté in oil. To the pan, now add the tamarind extract along with salt and hing and allow the tamarind too boil for 5 mins till its raw smell goes off.
Spice up Tamarind
- To the boiled tamarind juice add the ground spice paste and mix well. Bring it to boil and finally add grated jaggery and switch off the flame.
Serving Time
- Serve the delicious Thani Kootu with hot steaming rice. We can cook Raw banana, cluster beans, chow chow, brinjal etc.
Video
Nutritional Info
INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES
SOAKING TAMARIND
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 mins and extract the juice
FRYING PROCESS
- Heat oil in a pan. Add all the grinding ingredients except coconut and fry till dals turn light brown.
- Then add grated coconut and fry till it becomes golden brown. Cool the roasted ingredients.
GRINDING PROCESS
- Take the roasted ingredients in a mixer jar and Grind everything to a smooth paste.
TEMPERING PROCESS
- Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then add curry leaves and sauté in oil.
- To the pan, now add the tamarind extract along with salt and hing and allow the tamarind too boil for 5 mins till its raw smell goes off.
SPICE UP TAMARIND
- To the boiled tamarind juice add the ground spice paste and mix well.
- Bring it to boil and finally add grated jaggery and switch off the flame.
SERVING TIME
- Serve the delicious Thani Kootu with hot steaming rice. We can cook Raw banana, cluster beans, chow chow, brinjal etc.
