South
Indian Keerai (spinach)
What you need
- Baby spinach (0.75 pound)
- Dried red chili
: 2 or 3 (break into small pieces)
- Asafetida (heeng in Hindi)
powder - 3-4 "pinches"
- Mustard seed
: ½ teaspoon
- Fenugreek (mehti) seed
: 1/4 teaspoon
- Urud
daal : ½ teaspoon
- Vegetable (canola) oil
: ½ teaspoon
- Salt (add to taste)
: 1 teaspoon
Now get to work
- Place the spinach in a deep
saucepan; add 1 cup of water; boil the spinach in the water until the
spinach becomes tender (about 10 mins)
- Let the spinach cool a little
(for about 10 mins)
- Grind the spinach in a blender;
you can use the water that the spinach was boiled in to grind the spinach;
ensure that there is not too much water so that the blended spinach
is not too watery
- Pour the spinach from the
blender into a saucepan; heat it in low flame; add salt (to taste)
- In a little saucepan, heat
up 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil add urud daal, red chili, mustard seeds,
fenugreek seeds, and asafetida to the hot oil, and cover with a lid; the mustard seeds
will pop; as soon as you hear the mustard seeds to pop in a rhythm remove
the saucepan from the stove. IMPORTANT: make sure they don't
char! This "seasoning" step is critical!
- Add the seasoning to the
spinach. Mix it and remove the spinach from the stove.
- South Indian
Keerai is ready!
South Indian Keerai is great to eat
as a side dish along with Sambar mixed with rice.
Bon
appetite!