Sunday, August 20, 2006

Everyday Dishes - Keerai Masiyal

Dont we all know that greens are extremely good for health and loaded with vitamins and minerals ?? At my house with just the two of us, I usually make greens with dal mostly. Because I need good quantities for the lunch box next day. Today I wanted to make puli keerai masiyal, which is mashed keerai with puli, ie. tamarind. Back home it is made in a clay pot (chatti) my mother used to make it often. I googled for this recipe and hardly found any. So I sprung into action ( he he heee ) to blog about this dish. Have any of you blogged this recipe ??? Please let me know
For this dish I used Arai keerai. Does anyone know what arai keerai is in other Indian languages ???. You can also use siru keerai ( again I dont know the English name), Spinach, Fenugreek leaves.

DSC01762
Arai Keerai - Other names anyone ?????

- Two bunches of any greens. ( keerai or aaku koora )
- half an chopped onion
- garlic cloves
- half a lime size tamarind
- for tempering : gingelly oil, tsp of mustard, tsp of cumin, 6 or 7 curry leaves, 2 red chillies, a pinch of asafoetida

DSC017631
Keerai Masiyal with Bottlegourd curry, Eggplant curry - Our Sunday Lunch


  • Pressure cook the greens with a couple of garlic pods.
  • Heat oil in a clay pot and temper it with all the tempering ingredients
  • Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes
  • Mash the cooked greens and add it to the tempered oil with onions.
  • Squeeze in the extract of tamarind and boil for a minute
  • Add salt. Serve with hot rice with a dollop of ghee.

17 Comments:

At 9:34 PM PDT , Blogger Sudha said...

Revathi, nalla variation of keerai masiyal.actually na keerai yoda parupu serithu panuven.Thanks revathi..

 
At 9:48 PM PDT , Blogger Prema Sundar said...

Hi Revathi,
I do the keerai masiyal the same way except for puli ,i add jeera.
Btw california vil arai keerai kidhaikutha???? ingae methi and palak mattum than..

 
At 5:56 AM PDT , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Revathi, this kind of side dishes with greens is very famous among Lingayats (a community who worship shiva). I loved it. But my only problem is picking up correct greens for this.I used red spinach last time for this and it tasted great. I had not used tamarind in it, will try next time. Thanks for sharing.

 
At 7:20 AM PDT , Blogger KA said...

Revathi
Great looking thotakoora pulusu(keerai masiyal)!

 
At 10:47 AM PDT , Blogger Rajesh &Shankari said...

my mom make this when she is not in a mood to cook

 
At 12:54 PM PDT , Blogger Revathi said...

Hi Sudha
I too do the same add dal but the quantity becomes toooo much for 2 people to eat :)

Prema -
I too found out recently.. We get it in the Farmers' market. If you have Chinese market you might find it.. Chinese eat most of the greens we eat.. Btw had a peek into ur blog.. u got a great one going

Shilpa
Pls try out and let me know..

Krishna
So its called thotakoora ?? My husband buys one aakukoora which will be redding around the edges he calls that thotakoora !! Some confusion.

Yes Shankari the dish is very ez to make - thats y i named it everyday dish !!!

 
At 2:53 PM PDT , Blogger Maneka Nirmal said...

hey revathy ...i luv keerai...but we don't get it in orlando..but i'll try ur recipe when it is available..

 
At 1:43 PM PDT , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi :

I make keerai masiyal 2 ways like my mom makes:

1.Fry mustard seed,cumin seed, whole red pepper,urad dhal.

Then add onion fry well. Add any keerai you have and cook well.Grind well.

2. Above steps plus add tamerind to your taste when you are cooking the spainch.

Both way is good.

My choice is the 2 one though.

Enjoy

 
At 2:43 PM PDT , Blogger Priya Bhaskaran said...

Hi Revathi, I like this green leaf, but it doesn't come often at stores:( This recipe is new to me, will give a try:)

 
At 10:23 PM PDT , Blogger Chandrika said...

You have got all those memories flooding, Revathi...Keerai is my favorite..Inga Spinach, Vendhaya Keerai thavira edhuvume kidaikaradilla...I will try in the Chinese Store..Btw, Farmer's marketla enna perla vechirundhanga?

 
At 9:42 AM PDT , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi i loved keerai...can u please post eggplant curry ..it looks yummyyyyyyyy...

 
At 12:53 AM PDT , Blogger Mahek said...

hi
revathi
i was reading your blog and i came across this post so i thought i would let you know about a theme which i am thinking about
you can participate there is no compulsion offcourse.
read my blog and this link you will know about it.
http://goanche.blogspot.com/2006/10/home-cooked-meal-on-dassera.html

i think you will have lots of meal plates for all to share.

 
At 1:38 AM PST , Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Revathi
Loved the color of the greens. Yes this humble but so nutritious must be a regular in all of our kitchen. Thanks for bringing this recipe into the modern kitchen.
Here is one all-forgotten Agithikeerai poriyal
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/23136-post113.html

 
At 7:58 AM PST , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hai Revathi,
you forgot to add chilli while frying onions. Do edit and mention it.
IT also tastes good without the tamarind. For siri keerai its good wihout tamarind.

 
At 1:05 AM PST , Blogger Sunitha said...

Hi revathi,
Thanks for the nice recipe.
i usually make keerai with lentil and dont use tamarind.Next time i'll try it this way.For this type of curries i use the red spinach and muring ilai.Both taste great. but i dont get muringa ilai here, last time i brought from india.

 
At 3:43 AM PDT , Blogger Unknown said...

Revathi, na keerai yoda parupu, tomato serithu panuven.tasty aga erukkum
Thanks revathi..

 
At 8:13 PM PDT , Anonymous infopediaonlinehere said...

I just boil spinach with tamarind...this is a different variant...nice post

 

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