Paruppu Keerai | Sirukeerai Paruppu Kadayal | Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal | Quick Spinach Dal Recipe

This preparation used to be the only spinach dish that I liked when I was a child. And still this remains my favourite. I basically never liked spinach and that's the reason I loved this recipe. It masks the taste of the spinach to a good extent with the tur dal in it. And it's a one pot recipe, so it saves a lot of time on a busy day morning provided you can cleaned spinach ready :) If you are in Tamil Nadu, then there is no dearth to the varieties of spinach that you can get. And this recipe tastes great with Sirukeerai, pasalai keerai (Malabar spinach), paruppu keerai and palak as well. 

If you would like to peek into my other spinach recipes, then here they are - Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thalippu, Cheera Thoran, Vallarai keerai Poriyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Palak Paneer

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time:  mins

I Used:

Keerai/Spinach	-	1 ½ cup - chopped
Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Tomato	-	2 medium sized ones
Green Chilly	-	3-4 long ones
Garlic	-	4-5 pods
Tamarind (optional)	-	A blueberry sized
Turmeric Powder	-	¼ tsp
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

To Temper:

Oil	-	1-2 tbsp
Onion Vadagam (refer notes)	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	1 tsp
Red Chilly	-	1-2 nos - broken

The Way:

1. Rinse the tur dal 3-4 times with water. Then add around 2 cups of water and soak it for 20-30 minutes

2. Meanwhile, rinse the spinach leaves (refer notes) in water 2-3 times so as to remove the dirt and mud from it. You can use the leaves and the tender stem. This recipe is best suited for Sirukeerai, pasalai keerai (Malabar spinach), paruppu keerai and palak 

3. Then chop the spinach leaves and keep aside

4. Roughly chop the tomatoes as well. Peel the skin of the garlic and slit the green chillies and keep

5. Now take the soaked tur dal along with the soaked water in a pressure cooker. Add turmeric powder, asafoetida, chopped tomatoes, garlic, green chilly and tamarind to it. Addition of tamarind is optional. If the tomatoes are tangy enough then you can skip tamarind

6. Pressure cook the dal for 2 whistles on high and then 3-4 whistles on simmer

7. Then switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally

8. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker. Check how much water (or stock) is there. If you have more than a quarter cup of water then take them out onto a glass or container and keep aside. This is done because it is difficult to mash the gravy to a smooth consistency is more liquid is present

9. Then mash the dal-spinach using a masher so that the gravy becomes smooth. Now you can add the stock that you have kept aside, depending on the consistency of the gravy that you need

10. In a tadka pan, heat oil. Splutter the onion vadagam. If you do not have the vadagam, you can make a tadka using mustard seeds & red chilly. You can add sliced shallots too in the tadka if you like

11. Now add this tadka to the dal and mash it again and mix it well

Serve with rice and a stir fry of choice. I usually like to pair it with yam fry, plantain fry or beetroot thoran

Notes:

• This gravy will taste yummiest when made with siru keerai, pasalai keerai (Malabar spinach), paruppu keerai and also palak

• After buying the spinach, clean them properly. Remove any leaves that have turned yellow or starting to turn yellow. Also discard the leaves that are infested with pests or have small holes or white coloured formation in them. Also use only the tender stalks

• I use onion vadagam for tempering. If not available you can make a tadka of mustard, red chilly and shallots

Cheers,

Chitz