Wash ½ cup moong dal and pressure cook by adding ¼ tsp. turmeric powder and 1 ½ cups water. Set your Instant Pot on manual high for 3 minutes with valve on sealing. Turn off heat and set it aside for natural pressure releaseIf using a regular pressure cooker, cook for up to 2 whistles. You can also use a heavy bottom pan for this step and cook until the dal is soft and mushy. Make sure to triple the water as open pot methods use more water
Dry roast 1 Tbsp. urad dal (husked black gram), ½ Tbsp. black peppercorns, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 2 whole dry red chilis and 1 sprig curry leaves (about 10 leaves) until the urad dal changes color and the spices start to give out a flavorful aroma
Now add grated coconut and roast it for another minute, turn off the heat and set it aside to cool down to room temperatureIf usingfrozen grated coconut, pop it into the microwave for a minute to thaw
While the roasted ingredients cool down, wash the snake gourd under running water, scrape the top layer skin with a blunt knife, slit it open, scrape out the seeds, dice and set aside
Add ½ cup water to the roasted ingredients (from Step 3) and grind to a coarse paste using a small spice blender. Add another ½ cup water and grind it to a smooth pasteAdding water a little at a time while grinding improves the texture of the ground spice paste
Dump cook everything
Mash the cooked dal from step 1 with a ladle
To that, add diced snake gourd (step-), the ground paste(step-), remaining 2 ¼cups water, salt to taste (1 ¾ tsp. salt) and set Instant Pot on manual high for 2 minutes with valve on sealing. Turn off heat and set it aside for natural pressure releaseIf using a regular pressure cooker, cook up to 2 whistles. You can also use a heavy bottom pan for this step and cook until the vegetable is cooked to fork tenderTo that, add diced snake gourd (step-), the ground paste(step-), remaining 2 ¼ cups water, salt to taste (1 ¾ tsp. salt) and set Instant Pot on manual high for 2 minutes with valve on sealing. Turn off heat and set it aside for natural pressure release
Temper & serve
Heat coconut oil in a tempering pan on medium heat setting. Add 1tsp. mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. Now add 1½ tsp. split urad dal and let it cook until golden brown (this will take about for 30 seconds)
Turn off the heat, add curry leaves, and pour it over the kootu
Enjoy your sublime Podalangai Poricha Kootu with hot steamed rice, home made ghee, and yummy appalams 😋