Chinese Broccoli saag/ keerai masiyal

     Keerai masiyal is my mom's recipe. She makes with arai keerai/ siru keerai available in South India. I wanted to relish the masiyal with the available greens in US. Chinese broccoli is a close substitute for siru keerai. This greens has low Sodium and cholesterol.

Serves up to 4 people

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Chinese broccoli

1 fistful of baby spinach

3/4 cup of toor dhal

1 tomato

3-4 green chillies

cherry-sized tamarind

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp of turmeric

1/2 tbsp of oil

1 tsp of ghee

salt as required

Seasoning:

1/2 tsp of mustard

1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida

Preparation:

1.Pressure cook the toor dhal with turmeric and 2  1/2 cups of water. Chop the leaves of chinese broccoli and baby spinach.

2.Add the greens to the cooked dhal along with salt, chopped tomatoes, slit green chillies, garlic, tamarind and salt. Pressure cook them for 1 whitle.

3. Allow it to cool. Take the top layer containing the greens and pulse them 2 or 3 times. Mix well with the dhal.

4.Heat oil and ghee in the pan and add the seasoning. As the mustard crackles, add the chopped onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

5.Add them to the keerai/saag. Chinese broccoli keerai is ready and serve them with rice.

kale dry curry/ keerai porial

    Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious greens with powerful antioxidants. To the people whoever misses the taste of drumstick leaves (murangai keerai) will definitely love it as kale  gives the similar taste and texture. As it has a thick texture, it has to be finely chopped to be cooked properly.

Serves up to 3 people
Preparation time:20 minutes


Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale greens
1/4 cup of peanuts
4 red chillies
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Bengal gram dhal
1 tsp of mustard
pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp of oil
salt as required

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in the saucepan, add the seasoning( mustard and Bengal gram dhal). As the mustard sputters, add crushed garlic, 2 red chillies and pinch of asafoetida. Saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add finely chopped kale to the pan, saute well and close the lid. Allow the greens to cook for 15 minutes. 
3. Dry roast peanuts with the remaining 2 red chillies separately in a pan  and grind to coarse powder.
4. Add 3-4 tbsp of powdered peanuts to the kale and mix well. Close the lid for 5 more minutes. Keerai porial is ready. Serve with rice and 1 tsp of ghee.