One of the highlights of cooking by our previous generations, in my opinion, definitely has got to be how efficiently they used the produce. The amount of wastage was kept to bare minimum and I am sure, even that was put to good use like composting etc. Thanks to my ever increasing interest in gardening, I am now majorly into composting all my food scraps; so much so that its been 2 weeks since I put out my food/garden trash bin for collection thanks to it being empty. I am now looking into ways of using stuff that mostly went into my bin before - watermelon rind being among them.

After eating the red juicy part, the rest of the watermelon went into trash/compost. Watermelon rind is the nutritious white part of the watermelon just between the bright red/pink flesh and the outer green skin of the fruit.  If you were like me, you would probably eat/scoop the juiciest pink flesh and then throw the remaining away!  But don't do this anymore.  Last few months have been making dishes with the rind part of the fruit, this particular recipe being a favourite. This is my mom's recipe and that we all loved enough to repeat 4-5 times. You know its a winner when your little one suggest we get watermelon so that we can make this kootu once again!

Kootu is a southern cousin to (north) Indian Dal. The highlight is a dal with some kind of vegetable added to it and forms part of a "thali". This is one of those versatile dishes that makes for a great playing field for your preferences. The amounts mentioned is more a guideline that works perfect for us. But depending on the produce, your palate and your imagination, you can customize it. The rind is almost invisible in this dal and for those worried about its adoption, don't need to think twice before making it. The ingredients marry well and work in harmony.