Morkootan (Morkuzhambu)

     Called as Morkootan in Kerala & Morkuzhambu in Tamil Nadu, this is such a delicious dish that can be made easily and consumed without guilt, if you are not too health conscious in using coconut once in a while.     
    As this dish stands good easily for 2-3 days, I usually get this gravy a standard place in my backpack on Monday mornings whenever I start to Chennai. This packed morkootan comes in handy for about 2 days whenever I need a home-cooked meal without much effort or a side dish for dosa or idly.
     I had been so much hesitant to try this out thinking that it is a very complex dish :P Every time when i tell my mom, she says this is so very simple. Which I realized after trying out though :P This is a very yummy dish for a rice accompaniment, deviating from the usual sambar or rasam based with tamarind water & cooked dal. It involves neither. The main ingredient is sour thick curd. More the sourness, more the taste. As it is difficult to make the curd sour here, I usually keep the curd out of refrigerator overnight and adjust with its just-turning-sour taste. I will get a proper tasting morkootan only when I goto India :) 

Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 30 mins || Serves: 3 || Category: Kootan/Rice Accompaniment

Ingredients:
1. Potato - 1 Big
2. Turmeric Powder - 3tsp
3. Grated coconut - 3-4 tbsp
4. Green Chillies - 2 medium
5. Sour Curd - 150-200 gm
6. Curry Leaves - a sprig
7. Salt - as required
8. Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam) - 1tsp
9. Dry red chillies (round) - 2 or 3
10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
11. Coconut oil - 1tbsp

Method:
1. Peel the skin from potato and cut it into bite sized cubes. Transfer them to boiling water. Add turmeric powder & cook them for about 5-7 minutes or untill they are cooked. Grind coconut and green chillies with little water, to a paste. Add the paste onto the potatoes and mix well.

2. Cook the coconut paste for 3-5 mins for its raw smell to subside and the potatoes to finely blend with the gravy. Beat the sour curd to a flowing consistency and add to the dish. Add required amount of salt and stir well. Cook for about 2-3 mins in medium flame, until it gets slightly frothy and switch off the flame. Temper with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies & asafoetida powder in coconut oil.

Suggestions:

• Other vegetables like raw banana or yam can be used in the place of potato.
• Also some use lady's finger sauteed in oil, which I do not prefer as it makes the morkootan little gluey and liquidy.
• Coconut oil gives an authentic Kerala touch to the dish for tempering. 
• Any oil other than coconut oil can also be used for the tempering.
• Attention is needed at the stage from adding sour curd. If it is cooked on high flame or for long time in medium flame or brought to a boil, the gravy tends to become curdled and it looses its consistency. It is always better to watchful and cook in medium or low flame after adding buttermilk. 

Tastes more delicious from the next day. It can be refrigerated and had for about 2-3 days.

Also acts as a perfect side-dish for dosa, idly etc.