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    Home » Kootu Recipes

    Poosanikai rasavangi recipe, ash gourd rasavangi

    January 15, 2009 by Raks Anand 59 Comments /

    Poosanikai rasavangi, ash gourd rasavangi is a side dish for lunch made with white pumpkin, fresh ground masala and coconut. The fresh ground masala is specialty in this recipe.

    poosanikai rasavangi

    Goes well with poondu kuzhambu. This is also called white pumpkin kootu.

    Jump to:
    • Poosanikai rasavangi recipe
    • Method
    • My notes

    I love the name of this dish poosanikai rasavangi, very tempting for me, but have never tried before.

    Asked my mom in law for the recipe, she too was not that sure about it, but my father in law told me this recipe. Goes well with tangy gravies, great accompaniment for rice.

    Rasavangi tastes best when had with rice and ghee. The flavour of fresh ground masala reminds of the arachuvitta sambar but with goodness of vegetable in it like a kootu.

    You can add moong dal or chana dal in this kootu which I have omitted.

    Poosanikai rasavangi recipe

    Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
    Prep Time: 15 mins    |  Cook time: 20 mins    |  Serves: 2

    Ingredients

    • Ash gourd - 2-3 cups, Diced
    • Moong dal - 2 tbsp
    • Chana dal - 2 tbsp
    • Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
    • Salt - As needed
    • Curry leaves - 1 sprig
    • Tamarind - 1 tsp, measure rounded in a tsp, packed.

    To roast and powder

    • Fenugreek seeds - ¼ tsp
    • Chana dal - 1 tablespoon (You can add urad dal too instead of chana dal)
    • Dry coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
    • Red chillies - 4
    • Asafetida - ¼ tsp
    • Grated coconut - ¼ cup

    To temper

    • Mustard - ½ tsp
    • Urad dal - 1 tsp
    • Curry leaves - 1 sprig
    • Coconut oil - 2 tsp

    Method

    1. Take moong dal and chana dal in a vessel with 1 cup water and in a small bowl, keep tamarind and little water to immerse it in middle of the dal as shown in picture.
    dal, tamarind
    before cooking

    2. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles in medium flame. Once done, keep aside.

    Extract thick tamarind pulp from the tamarind. (with not more than ¼ cup water) Since we pressure cook, I use just couple of tablespoon actually.

    cooked dal
    tamarind

    3. Cut the white pumpkin firstly (½ of a white pumpkin) into 4. Slice off the green skin and the seeds + pith. Slice it thickly, then into strips and then dice it into cubes.

    After that, cook ash gourd in water just to immerse it with turmeric, a sprig of curry leaves and salt, till soft. Make sure not to over cook.

    boil
    cooked

    4. Then add the tamarind extract and cooked dal.

    tamarind
    dal

    Roast spices

    5. Meanwhile, heat oil in kadai, add fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, red chilli, chana dal, coriander seeds in order. Roast evenly until dal turns golden.

    spices
    coconut

    6. After that, add coconut and roast until golden in color. Transfer to a plate.

    roasted
    mixie

    7. Grind together to a coarse powder firstly. Then add water and grind to a paste.

    powder
    paste

    8. Add this ground paste, stir well and give it a boil.

    add
    mix

    9. Lastly temper, heat oil and splutter mustard. After that add urad dal and curry leaves.

    Mix in to the poosanikai rasavangi. Drizzle some coconut oil for extra flavor.

    boil
    temper

    My notes

    • Add tamarind only after ash gourd gets cooked. Otherwise it will not get cooked.

    Mix well and serve as an accompaniment for rice.!

    pumpkin rasavangi

    Other Wholesome Kootu recipes

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    • pavakkai-pitlai-recipe
      Pavakkai pitlai recipe, bitter gourd pitlai
    • Spring onion kootu recipe, vengaya thal kootu
    • papali-kai-kootu
      Green papaya kootu recipe, pappali kai kootu

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. sowmya

      January 15, 2009 at 10:48 am

      delicious...nice and spicy..

      Reply
    2. LG

      January 15, 2009 at 12:20 pm

      slurrp! you made me hungry again 🙂

      Reply
    3. Asha

      January 15, 2009 at 12:45 pm

      Photos are gorgeous! Made me reach for the spoon, specially for the first dish! :))

      Reply
    4. Jaishree

      January 15, 2009 at 12:49 pm

      Rasavangi& kuzhambu looks nice & spicy. Awecome pic!

      Reply
    5. Priya

      January 15, 2009 at 1:19 pm

      Oh my god, bunch of gorgeous pics...drooling over the poondu kuzhambu...

      Reply
    6. Viki Xavier.

      January 15, 2009 at 1:26 pm

      Rasavangi and Poondu kulambu lovely combo dear.
      Love the way u presented. Yummy.

      Reply
    7. Happy cook

      January 15, 2009 at 1:32 pm

      Wish i gor ashgourd here. I used to love curry made with them.
      Your lok so mouthwattering.
      Wish i ha dthem with rice.

      Reply
    8. AnuSriram

      January 15, 2009 at 2:22 pm

      Both dishes looks tempting! Deliciously made... I can smell the aroma!

      Reply
    9. Laavanya

      January 15, 2009 at 2:44 pm

      That's exactly how I make puli kuzhambu... delicious and my mom likes it with nallennai too. The rasavangi looks awesome. I'm definitely trying that.. since i usually make olan or morkuzhambu with poosinikai.

      Reply
    10. Priti

      January 15, 2009 at 3:42 pm

      Wow looks so yummy...u come over here for Pongal...but do bring along both these items too 😉

      Reply
    11. Chitra - spicelover

      January 15, 2009 at 4:00 pm

      lovely post and a great combination:)

      Reply
    12. Cham

      January 15, 2009 at 5:03 pm

      Kuzhambu and kootu are perfect combo! The koootu masala sounds tasty!

      Reply
    13. anudivya

      January 15, 2009 at 7:37 pm

      Ahh! So this is how Rasavangi is made! Looks perfect and seems like I will be trying it out sometime.

      Reply
    14. Vibaas

      January 16, 2009 at 12:16 am

      Ashgourd rasavangi is something new. my mom makes eggplant rasavangi. Will definitely try this as i love ashgourd. Nice pictures, btw.

      Reply
    15. jeyashrisuresh

      January 16, 2009 at 1:32 am

      we too make this rasavangi and we add bolied kondakadalai or boiled peanuts.poondu kulambhu i too make,as u told if we mix it with rice along with sesame oil it will taste very nice. And as usual the way u cut the veg is really nice

      Reply
    16. Mahimaa's kitchen

      January 16, 2009 at 2:47 am

      i have been looking for poondu kuzhambu recipe. will bookmark it to try. and rasavangi is also something i wanted to try. both dishes look yummy.

      Reply
    17. Nithya Praveen

      January 16, 2009 at 5:16 am

      I have heard of Kathirikai Rasavangi not Poosanikai...this is new Rajeshwari.I liked ur detail description along with the snaps.I loved the first snap...its really neat:)

      Reply
    18. Dershana

      January 16, 2009 at 7:29 am

      I love poondu kulambu, especially with piping hot 'mallipoo' idlis
      🙂 Urs looks perfect!

      Reply
    19. Kitchen Flavours

      January 16, 2009 at 11:35 am

      Wow yummy pics... both the recipes are new to me...

      Reply
    20. Daily Meals

      January 16, 2009 at 1:35 pm

      Bothe the dishes look delicious...

      Reply
    21. Gita's Kitchen

      January 16, 2009 at 1:56 pm

      Thanks for the step by step procedures for the rasavangi...I love poondu kuzambu, I should try out both these soon 🙂

      Reply
    22. Uma

      January 16, 2009 at 10:11 pm

      yummy mouth-watering dishes as always! Have a great weekend.

      Reply
    23. Yasmeen

      January 17, 2009 at 2:06 am

      Spicy! We call it Kaddu,I like all the spices you used in the curry.The tangy kuzhamdu must taste like heaven with ghee rice:)

      Reply
    24. Purnima

      February 04, 2009 at 7:42 am

      Rajeswari, whenever u read the previous comment, pls do update method-tamarind. I changed my mind, after the ash. gourd boiled ..i added the tamarind extract, then added the ground coarse pwdr..it was tasty n different ..flavor lent to ashg. from masala was superb! tks for sharing dear!

      Reply
    25. RAKS KITCHEN

      February 04, 2009 at 3:53 pm

      Purnima,
      Thanks for pointing out,yes I missed it out!
      Now I updated:)

      Reply
    26. Purnima

      February 08, 2009 at 8:33 am

      Tks!! 😀 But this is gonna make more appearances! 🙂 TKS FOR SHARING!

      Reply
    27. TBC

      March 18, 2009 at 3:23 am

      I made the ash gourd curry... I just saw that you had another recipe too in this post...:)

      Reply
    28. TBC

      March 18, 2009 at 3:23 am

      Hey R,
      I made this today. It tastes so good! Thanks for the recipe.:D

      Reply
    29. Laavanya

      March 18, 2009 at 3:23 am

      Hi Raks, I made the poosanikai rasavaangi last night and we really liked it! 🙂 Thanks for a yummy recipe.

      Reply
    30. RAKS KITCHEN

      March 18, 2009 at 3:33 am

      Thank you for giving feedback Laavanya and TBC,glad that you liked it and taking time to write here:)

      Reply
    31. Mahi

      November 11, 2010 at 12:44 am

      Hi Raji, I made poosanikkaai rasavaangi some time back. It was yummy! Thanks for sharing a nice and authentic recipe with perfect pics.:)

      Reply
    32. RAKS KITCHEN

      November 11, 2010 at 4:24 am

      Mahi 🙂 Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂

      Reply
    33. Jayasri Ravi

      March 05, 2011 at 5:49 am

      Hi Raji, made your poondu kohazmbu today!, we all liked it!, I had an eye on this from a long time, My H was asking me to make poondu rasam, So, I thought why not this! thanks yaar enjoyed it, I like eating poondu but not used to eating it too much, but this one was good, it was not overpowering, It was like Venthya kozhambu, thanks again.

      Reply
    34. nazreen

      October 28, 2011 at 9:49 am

      really super ...........not only poondu kuzhambu all ur receipe are make to cook more.....

      Reply
    35. nazreen

      October 28, 2011 at 9:49 am

      Really super .......... i loved it ..

      Reply
    36. Dhivya prasanna

      January 30, 2012 at 3:24 pm

      made poondu kulambu today....it was too good...continue ur good job...

      Reply
    37. ambika clyton

      June 13, 2012 at 11:30 am

      hi this is ambika

      last night i tried ur poondu kuzhambu and cabbage kootu, both came out really good and tasted awesome. we both(myself and my husband)enjoyed each and every bite of onion and garlic.my husband said cabbage kootu was merely same as they do in marriages. usually i use instand sambar powder which is available in local market but this time i prepared the sambar powder u listed, beleive me it really enhanced an additional taste.
      i really appreciate u all
      thanks

      Reply
    38. RAKS KITCHEN

      June 13, 2012 at 11:31 am

      Thank you so much 🙂

      Reply
    39. Jaya

      June 25, 2012 at 3:19 pm

      One can only see your passion towards cooking from all this description and pictures. As always "Keep doing the great work "

      Reply
    40. ar

      September 26, 2012 at 6:41 am

      Did you dry roast or roasted in oil for the ingredients in the table roast and grind in the ash gourd gravy recipe

      Reply
    41. ar

      September 26, 2012 at 6:41 am

      Did u roast in oil or dry roast the ingredients in the table roast & grind in ash gourd gravy recipe

      Reply
    42. ar

      September 26, 2012 at 6:41 am

      Did you dry roast or roasted in oil for the ingredients in the table roast and grind in the ash gourd gravy recipe

      Reply
    43. RAKS KITCHEN

      September 26, 2012 at 6:42 am

      I used 1/2 tsp oil

      Reply
    44. R Girls

      October 07, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      I could never bring my kuzhambu to this consistency..this is amazing defn. will try

      Reply
    45. Lakshmi Canteen @ Koppa

      October 29, 2012 at 1:32 am

      I tried it today and it came out very good. I also added a very small piece of jaggery. Thanks for the recipe:-)

      Reply
    46. Dhaya

      November 03, 2012 at 5:53 am

      very nice....tasted very good...pictures tempted me to try this out and came very well...

      Reply
    47. Dhaya

      November 03, 2012 at 5:53 am

      very nice poondu kulambu...it came well when i tried exactly with what you gave

      Reply
    48. ENDless Experiences

      November 29, 2012 at 8:19 am

      Lots of hugs to you raji..I made the best poondu kulambhu yesterday

      Reply
    49. aruna

      January 01, 2013 at 11:17 am

      hey i tried preparing this in electric rice cooker as i stay in hostel but the kolubu is watery.im not getting the thickness.can you please tel me how to get the thickness

      Reply
    50. RAKS KITCHEN

      January 01, 2013 at 11:22 am

      Try using less water while u prepare tamarind extract. 1/2 tsp rice flour dissolved in 1 tor 2 tablespoon of water may help. Also corn flour can be used for thickening.

      Reply
    51. Sowmya Sundararajan

      January 16, 2013 at 3:32 pm

      Super Raji

      Reply
    52. bilvapatra

      April 13, 2013 at 5:27 pm

      hahahahaha! "Is this honey or kuzhambu?" What love, what joy! Oh the pleasure of being a child, the pleasure of having mother love so crazily..... God bless you!

      Reply
    53. Viji

      April 20, 2013 at 5:33 am

      Hi Raji

      Thanks for your mouthwatering recipies..I am a beginner in cooking and I have tried some of your recipies that turned out great..I am gonna try this poondu kulambu also,but before that I have a doubt whether to add tomato or not..How did u achieve the thickness without adding tomato?I am new to this kara kulambu variety as I belong to southern part of tamilnadu where we use more coconut in our cooking..My MIL in chennai adds pureed tomato to kara kulambu and taht gives the thickness..But the kulambu with more tomato is so tangy and I dont like it so much...I tried potato,brinjal kara kulambu with one tomato and some shallots of onion,but I couldnot achieve the thickness even if i simmer for so many minutes..My kulambu is watery and it tastes sweet..Whats wrong in my kulambu?How to get the thickness like urs...Pls help me,I could not make good kara kulambu for my husband who love it..Pls help me..

      Reply
    54. RAKS KITCHEN

      April 20, 2013 at 5:37 am

      HI Viji, it depends on your sambar powder. are you using sambar powder or red chilli powder alone? If you use pure red chilli powder, add some coriander powder too for thickness. Also the key is to use more tamarind and more sambar powder wich will give you thickness. Hope this will help you. Also boil for long time until it gets thick.

      Reply
    55. Subitha Ganesh

      June 27, 2013 at 2:14 pm

      Hi...It is amazing. Today only I visited your blog. All items are really great. I will be a regular follower of you. After marriage only I started cooking. Now I started to enjoy it. Basically I am from Kerala.After marriage only I started to taste Tamil Nadu style recepie especially Karaikudi style.

      Reply
    56. Smitha Jivan

      April 10, 2014 at 5:42 am

      Hi,am not a great cook when it comes to vegetarian dishes.But your recipes inspired me alot and now everyday I cook ur recipes.And happiest part is that my sons strted loving all those .....they even asks me what's the name for each curry!!!!!thanks alot 🙂

      Reply
    57. Smitha Jivan

      April 10, 2014 at 3:05 pm

      Hi, am not great at vegetarian cooking,but your blogs inspired me alot.Now everyday it's your repices I make for dinner.The happiest part is that my kids who were not eating vegetarian started enjoying all the recipes....they even asks me the name of the curry I prepares!!!! Thanks alot:)

      Reply
    58. Sudarshan

      July 05, 2017 at 8:06 am

      Name of table "to grind" and "temper" to be updated please....

      Reply
    59. Raks anand

      July 05, 2017 at 8:27 am

      Thanks, will do

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Rajeswari Vijayanand! I am the person behind Rakskitchen, sharing recipes with pictures & videos.

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