Murungai Keerai Poriyal

Murungai Keerai is one of the rare greens got in US. When ever I go to Asian market I use to search for it, this is time I was lucky. Murungai keerai is bit difficult for cleaning, but rich in iron. In my husband’s back yard, we have two trees hence we often have murungai keerai. One incident I like to tell you, so that you will know the important of this green .I was anemic and doctor asked me to take iron supplements. I continued for some months and my iron level is the blood started increase gradually, but if I stop taking supplements, I become anemic .In this situation I did not like taking supplements but wanted to replace by naturally food. Luckily I had short jaunt to Indian and I had an opportunity to take murungai keerai soup early morning before breakfast for a month’s time and took blood test and the result surprised by increase in red blood cells. So I was able to overcome my anemia with out taking any supplements. On nutrition aspect murungai keerai is richest source of iron, helps to produce red blood cells which in turn carries oxygen throughout the body. More recipes of murungai keerai are going come in my blog stay tuned……try it and be healthy by eating it.

Ingredients:

• Murungai Keerai -1bunch
• Coconut (grated) -4 tbsp
• Garlic -10to 12 pods
• Green chilly -2 or (red chili powder depending on your spice level)
• Pearl Onion – 7 to9 pods or Medium onion chopped
• Turmeric -1/2 tbsp
• Oil – 2tbsp
• Mustard seeds – ¼ tbsp
• Urad dal – 1 tbsp
•  Salt - to taste

Method:

Step 1: Cleaning

1. It is bit tricky to clean the murungai keerai.
2. Keep the keerai outside for overnigh and in the morning all the leaf will fall from the bigger stem.
3. After that you can just clean leaves from the smaller stems.

Step2:Preparing Keerai

1. Wash the murungai Keerai  and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds to splatters
3. Then add urad dal, chopped onion, garlic and then green chillies.
4. Sautee till the onions is tender and adds the chopped leaves, turmeric, salt and mix evenly.
5. Then add some water or as needed and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the leaves are fully done.
6. When water in the greens is completely dried, add the grated coconut and saute it for another minute or two.
7.  Now switch off the heat and transfer to a bowl.
8. Goes well with sambar and rasam rice.

Thandu Keerai Poriyal

Thandu Keerai is known as Amaranths Tender in English. I like to eat greens. They really taste yummy, when handled and prepared with proper care. After Marriage I move to US, where I did not greens regularly. Even though I get, it would be spinach from American grocery. If I need to get Indian greens, I have to go to Indian or Asian groceries. There also we will get only some types of green like Thandu Keerai, fenugreek and mustard greens. So with thandu keerai I have tried one of my mother recipes. You also try it and prepare a different and tasty dish .When we see on nutrition aspect, the greens always plays a vital role. Thandu keerai is also a type of spinach. They are rich in antioxidants, beta carotene etc. Overcooking of green kills the calcium and vitamins in it, so cook unto exact level and get all the benefits of greens.

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Ingredients:

• Thandu Keerai -1bunch
• Coconut (grated) -3 tbsp
• Garlic -6 to 8 pods
• Green chilly -2 or (red chili powder depending on your spice level)
• Onion –medium size chopped
• Turmeric -1/2 tbsp
• Oil – 2tbsp
• Mustard seeds – ¼ tbsp
• Urad dal – 1 tbsp
•  Salt - to taste.

Method:

1. Wash the Thandu Keerai; chop them along with the tender stem.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds to splatters
3. Then add urad dal, chopped onion, garlic and the green chilly.
4. Sautee till the onions is tender and adds the chopped leaves, turmeric, salt and mix evenly.
5. Then add sprinkle some water or as needed and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the leaves are fully done.
6. When water in the greens is completely dried, add the grated coconut and saute it for another minute or two.
7.  Now switch off the heat.
8.  Serve hot with rice.
9. Goes well with rasam rice, chappatis.