Dal Palak (without onion and garlic) | Palak Dal | Easy Dal Palak Recipe

Recipe for the day is this warm and yummy Dal Palak which always reminds me of our Pune days. This hot bowl of simple yet flavorful palak dal was enough for us to eat scores of phulkas and extra extra helpings of rice. Did I slightly go overboard? Maybe ;) But you get the drift right. It is healthy too. All you need is that bowl of dal and maybe a sabzi. Even if I don't get time to make a sabzi, we manage with boiled egg fry or paneer burji. I love to make this with the palak I used to buy in Pune which gives an earthly flavor to the gravy. With the Chennai palak I feel that's missing. So without much further talk, let's get to the recipe.

Recipe Source: Here

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Palak	-	2 cups
Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Oil/Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Cumin seeds	-	1 tsp
Ginger	-	An inch piece - chopped
Green Chilly	-	2 nos (medium sized) - chopped
Red Chilly powder	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Rinse the lentil with water for 2-3 times. Then take them in a pressure cooker and add around 2 cups of water. Add salt and turmeric powder to it. If you have time soak the dal for 15-20 minutes before cooking so that they cook faster

2. Pressure cook the dal for 5 to 6 whistles till it becomes soft and mushy

3. Now rinse the palak in water for 2-3 times. Drain them of water. Then chop finely and keep aside. Also clean and chop the ginger and green chillies and keep aside

4. In a pan heat oil/ghee. Using ghee gives a very nice aroma and flavor to the gravy. Then temper the cumin seeds 

5. Reduce the flame to low and then add the chopped ginger and fry till the raw smell goes off

6. Then add the chopped green chillies & fry for 30 seconds

7. Now add the chopped palak and saute for a minute

8. Then add the red chilly powder and asafoetida

9. Now cover the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes till the palak is cooked. Palak will release some water. So no need to add additional water at this point. Just open the lid and saute twice or thrice in between so that the palak doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan

10. Mash the cooked dal so that it is smooth. Once the palak is cooked, add the mashed dal to it

11. Add water (1-2 cups) depending on the consistency you want or the gravy and give a nice stir

12. Check salt and add if needed

13. Simmer the dal for about 5 minutes and then switch off

Serve with nice phulkas/rotis, rice & a sabzi of choice :)

Cheers,
Chitz

Ponnanganni Keerai Poriyal | Ponnangani Greens Stir Fry | Dwarf Copper Leaf Stir Fry

Here I go with yet another greens stir fry recipe. This time it is none other than the iron & calcium rich Ponnangani leaves. They come in two shades - green and red. Here I have prepared the stir fry using green leaves today. You can follow the same recipe for the red leaves as well. Ponnangani leaves has many medicinal benefits. To mention a few, it is recommended as a very good medicine for all your eye problems and for also maintaining a healthy and glowing skin. It is said to reduce body heat and is a good remedy for piles problems. And it is very effective against stomach ulcers, gut problems and also to improve your overall health. And so I guess by now you must have very well understood how great these greens are for your health, so let's go check out how to make a simple and tasty stir fry with them :)

This is how it looks :)

Serves: 4-5 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

I Used:

Ponnangani Keerai	-	2 cups
Sesame oil	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	¼ tsp
Urad Dal	-	1 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	4 nos (slit)
Onion (chopped) Asafoetida Turmeric Powder	- - -	½ cup - 1 medium sized 2 fat pinch ¼ tsp
Mung Dal	-	2 tbsp (boiled) (Take 1 tbsp raw and soak)
Grated Coconut	-	2 tbsp

The Way:

1. Take the moong dal in a bowl. Rinse well in water. Then soak the dal in ¼ cup of water for 15-20 minutes

2. Once soaked, add a little salt (not much coz we will be adding in the poriyal as well) and cook them till done. First keep the flame in high till the water boils and then simmer and cook covered till done. The dal should not turn mushy. They should be cooked and retain their shape. It should take around 8-10 minutes for them to get cooked

3. Meanwhile clean and keep the greens (keerai). Remove old or wilted or yellow coloured leaves. I use only the leaves and discard the stem

4. Rinse the greens (keerai) in water 2-3 times to remove the dirt and mud particles. Then drain the water and chop them roughly and keep aside

5. Chop the onions and keep aside

6. In a pan, heat sesame oil. Use sesame oil for this stir fry. It is highly recommended. If you do not have it replace with sunflower or coconut oil

7. Splutter mustard. Then reduce the flame and add the urad dal and broken red chillies. Saute them. Take care not to burn the red chilly or dal

8. Add the chopped onions and saute. The onions should turn translucent and slightly start to turn colour

9. Then add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Give a quick saute

10. Add the chopped greens and give a nice stir. Add 2-3 tbsp of water and give a quick stir. Cover and cook for 5-6 minute till the leaves wilt and get cooked. Check in between to see that they do not get stuck at the bottom and saute to avoid that

11. Once the greens are cooked, add the cooked moong dal and give a gentle stir and leave it for a minute

12. Then add the grated coconut and give a quick and gentle stir

13. Switch off flame and serve with rice and a gravy of choice

Cheers,

Chitz

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

Vallarai Keerai Poriyal | Brahmi Leaves Thoran | Pennywort Stir Fry

Now that we have shifted our base back to Chennai, I am able to buy and cook some native veggies and greens :) Vallarai Keerai is one such green that I have not seen even once in Pune. So last week when I saw some in the local market, I immediately grabbed a bunch. When I bought them I thought that they are used to make dosas but when I checked with my mom it turned out that the greens used for making dosa is 'Mudakkathan Keerai' and not this. And she told me the recipe to make this poriyal. She said that this Vallarai Keerai (Brahmi) is bitter and hence to make it into an appeasing poriyal you need to add some supporting ingredients like tomato, dal and coconut. 

This is how it looks :)

Generally when we make keerai (greens) poriyal we do not add any of them . Just plain saute of onions and chillies and then the spinach. And as she said, when I tasted the poriyal before adding dal and coconut it was very bitter. But once it was done, it tasted yum and there was only a very faint bitterness to it that even my little one relished it :) And also this leaves are very good for our brain, so if you get hold of some Vallarai Keerai, do buy and make them, now that you have a fool proof recipe :) Also let me know how it turned out..

My other keerai recipes are - Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thalippu, Cheera Thoran, Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Palak Paneer

Serves: 4-5 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

I Used:

Vallara Keerai (Brahmi)	-	2 cups
Sesame oil	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	¼ tsp
Green Chilly	-	3 nos (slit)
Asafoetida	-	¼ tsp
Onion (chopped)	-	½ cup
Tomato (chopped)	-	½ cup
Tur Dal (or Mung Dal)	-	2 tbsp
Grated Coconut	-	2 tbsp

The Way:

1. Take the tur dal (or moong dal) in a bowl. Rinse well in water. Then soak the dal in ¼  cup of water for 15-20 minutes

2. Once soaked, add a little salt (not much coz we will be adding in the poriyal as well) and cook them till done. First keep the flame in high till the water boils and then simmer and cook covered till done. The dal should not turn mushy. They should be cooked and retain their shape. It should take around 8-10 minutes for them to get cooked

3. Meanwhile clean and keep the greens (keerai). Remove old or wilted or yellow coloured leaves. The stem is edible too. If the stem is clean and tender use it as well

4. Rinse the greens (keerai) in water 2-3 times to remove the dirt and mud particles. Then drain the water and chop them finely and keep aside

5. Chop the onions and tomatoes and keep aside

6. In a pan, heat sesame oil. Use sesame oil for this stir fry. It is highly recommended. If you do not have it replace with sunflower or coconut oil

7. Splutter mustard

8. Add the chopped onions and slit green chillies and saute

9. The onions should turn translucent and slightly start to turn colour

10. Then add asafoetida and turmeric powder. give a quick saute

11. Add the chopped tomatoes and give a nice saute. Maybe you can close and cook for 2 minutes till the tomatoes slowly start to turn mushy

12. Add the chopped greens and give a nice stir. Cover and cook for 5-6 minute till the leaves wilt and get cooked. Check in between to see that they do not get stuck at the bottom and saute to avoid that

13. Once the greens are cooked, add the cooked tur dal (or moong dal) and give a gentle stir and leave it for a minute

14. Then add the grated coconut and give a quick and gentle stir

15. Switch off flame and serve with rice and a gravy of choice

Cheers,

Chitz

Cheera Thoran | Kerala Style Easy Red Spinach Stir fry with coconut | Keerai Poriyal

Ask any Mallu to choose between red and green spinach, the answer would be the red one. There is something closer to heart or home with the red spinach for the Malayali :) Especially if the Mallu is in a foreign land and somehow gets to see some red spinach in the market or store, the expression would be "Chummana Cheeraaaaaaaaaa" (Red Spinaaaach) and they would promptly buy it too ;) And there is no brownie points for guessing today's recipe, it's none other than the humble stir fry with the red spinach. It is easy to make like any other thoran, even better, coz there is no grinding or crushing of coconut involved like in some other thorans. Pair it with some curd or Pulissery and matta rice and it's just bliss. "Venel or omelette koodi aavam too ;)" (Can have an omelette too with that combo ;)) 

My other spinach recipes are Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thalippu, Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal, Vallarai keerai Poriyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Palak Paneer

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

I Used:

Coconut Oil Spinach/Cheera	- -	2-3 tbsp 3 heaped cups - chopped
Shallots	-	10-12 nos - sliced
Red Chilly	-	2-3 nos
Grated Coconut	-	¼ cup

The Way:

1. Wash and rinse the spinach in water 2-3 times so that the dirt and sand is removed. Then spread them on a plate or kitchen towel and allow them to dry for 10-15 minutes

2. Then chop them finely and keep aside. Peel the shallots and slice them

3. Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds if using

4. Then add the sliced shallots and broken red chilly and saute

5. Saute till they slightly turn colour. Now add the chopped spinach and mix well. Then cover and cook them till done which will take around 10-12 minutes

6. In between open the lid and saute so that they don't get burnt or stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you feel it's too dry add 1-2 tbsp of water and saute. Don't add more, else it will get soggy

7. Finally once the spinach is cooked, add the grated coconut and saute for another minute or two. Switch off the flame and serve with a gravy of your choice

Notes:

• Can splutter mustard seeds in the beginning of needed. I generally do not do that

• You can also make without coconut. That also tastes equally good

Cheers,
Chitz

Cheera Thalippu | Cheera Thalichathu | Spinach Gravy (without dal)

Amaranthus cooked in starch water

I know amaranthus or spinach is healthy and by now you must be knowing that my family is a popeye family except me. I eat amaranthus only because it is healthy and not because I like it :D And today's recipe is from my mil. Deeps loves when the spinach is made like this. It is very similar to the Cheera Thoran but only difference is this is made like a gravy for rice and for the gravy instead of using dal, starch water is used. Not heard of before? Even I didn't before getting married ;) It is very easy to make and can be made in a jiffy. If your folks are tired of eating spinach with dal combo, try this way!

My other spinach recipes are Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thoran, Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal, Vallarai keerai Poriyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Palak Paneer

Recipe Source : Mil

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serves : 3-4 persons 

I Used:

Spinach/Amaranthus/Cheera Coconut Oil	- -	3 cups - chopped 2-3 tbsp
Shallots	-	6-8 nos
Red Chilly	-	2 nos
Green Chilly	-	2 nos
Salt	-	As Needed
Rice cooked water/Starch water	-	As Needed (I used 2.5 cups)

The Way:

1. Slice the shallots and keep aside. And rinse the spinach in water 3-4 times to remove the mud and other impurities and drain them. Then chop them finely and keep aside

2. In a pan heat coconut oil. Add the sliced shallots and also break the red chillies into two and slit the green chillies and add them as well 

3. Saute them well until they turn colour to slight brown

4. Now add the starch water or the rice cooked water to it. Allow it to come to a boil

5. Now add the chopped spinach to it and give a nice stir. Close the pan and allow the spinach to cook in low flame. It will take around 10-15 minutes for the spinach to cook. 

6. Check in between to see if the starch water is sufficient for the gravy. if you find it's less add accordingly. The amount of starch water is completely your choice and depends on how thick/thin you want our gravy to be. If you do not have or do not want to use starch water you can use water instead or else half and half of starch water and normal water

7. When the spinach is cooked switch off and serve with rice and a side dish of your choice !

Cheers,

Chitz