Few days back, I made a new gravy called Sothi for lunch. Sothi is a mildly spiced gravy with coconut milk as the main ingredient for the gravy. The vegetables are cooked in thin coconut milk and the gravy is thickened by adding thick coconut milk. Since I did not want to use lot of coconut milk, I made few changes in the recipe and made a more protein rich and healthier version of sothi.

Sothi was indeed mild, aromatic and very delicious. I had served it steamed rice and potato dry curry. It can be served with idli, dosa and appam too:)

Ingredients

Drumsticks – 2
Cabbage – 250 gms
Tomato – 1
Coconut milk powder – 1/4th cup
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 2
Curry leaves – few
Hing ( asafoetida/ perungayam)- 1/8th tsp

For the masala

Saunf ( sombu/ fennel seeds)- 1 tsp
Khuskhus – 2 tsps
Roasted Chana dal – 2 tbsps
Grated coconut – 1/4th cup
Green chillies – 3
Ginger – 1 inch
Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Method

Wash and cut drumsticks into 2 inches pieces. Wash and chop cabbage and tomato. Wash and slit the green chillies.

Grind the ingredients mentioned for the masala to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add slit green chillies, curry leaves and hing. Sauté for few seconds.

Now add the chopped drumsticks and sauté for a min. Add chopped cabbage, tomato and turmeric powder, mix well and continue to sauté for few more mins. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of water and salt to taste, mix well and let it cook till the vegetables becomes soft.

Add 1/2 cup water to the ground masala paste, mix well and add it to the cooked vegetables. Mix well and let it cook for 10 mins on a medium flame.

To the coconut milk powder, add 1 cup of water and mix well till it becomes smooth.
Add this to the vegetables and mix well. Check for the seasonings. Let the gravy simmer for few mins.

Serve the drumstick and cabbage sothi hot with steamed rice and any dry vegetable curry:)