Keerai Masiyal ~ Greens and lentil curry

One of the ingredients most kids (and adults too) love to hate is Greens (Keerai in Tamil, Soppu in Kannada, Koora in Telugu). Although loaded in vitamins and low in carbs, somehow it takes a herculean task to get people, and kids in particular to get to eat greens .Spinach was marketed excellently by Popeye for ages in the West, and wish moms today had the energy to do likewise. Today's dish Keerai Masiyal is a breeze to make, healthy, loaded with vitamins and added proteins (from the lentils) and is versatile- add to this some more vegetables (peas / beans / sprouts / carrots / garlic / onions etc) to make it a wholesome meal by itself, all disguised with super healthy add-ons :-). Shall we proceed to the recipe then ??

I have added to the usual dish a handful of green peas , french beans  and sprouts but cooked it sans garlic or onions- thse add ons are optional. You may also add a handful of raw peanuts to make it even proteinicous :-) If you have all ingredients ready before hand, you can cook this under 30 mins. This dish is great with rice as well as Chapatis / Rotis too

Update : Sending this to Vardhini’s Cooking with Whole Foods – Spinach, event by Kiran

Prep time : 10 mins . Cooking time : 15 mins. Serves : 4

Ingredients to go:

• Palak / Methi (you may use any greens, but it works best with these) -3 cups chopped
• Masoor Dal - 3/4 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric - a dash
• Jeera / cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 TBSP
• Amchur - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
• Tempering : Oil (1 tsp), cumin seeds, Asafoetida , Red chillies (2), Mustard seeds
• Grated coconut for garnish

Optional veggies:

• French beans chopped-  a handful
• Peas - 1/4 cup
• Diced Carrots - 1/8 cup
• Onions - 1 small
• Garlic - 2 pods

Method:
1) Wash and chop the greens. Pressure cook the greens along with Masoor Dal with minumum water + any veggies added in for 3 whistles.
2) Once cooked, mash it up a little . Add salt, dry masala powders and let it come to a boil on very low flame. Add water if required as per consistency.
3) Prepare tempering with oil + cumin, asafoetida, red chillies and mustard till cumin and mustard crackle. Pour over the mixture. Add in a dash of fresh coconut . Mix well. serve hot with Rotis / Rice :)

More like this:
Soppina Huli / Greens Sambhar
Aloo Matar Methi sabji (Fenugreek with peas and potato curry)


Note: Its important that the coconut is added while the dish is still on the heat.- this will prevent the dish from turning stale quickly.