Dal Palak|Keerai Kootu

Dal Palak/keerai kootu for rice,roti

Cuisine: Indian Category: Sides Yields: 1 1/2 cups Prep time: 15-20 minutes(soaking dal) Cook time: 15 minutes Total time: 30 minutes

1 /2 bunch spinach/palak(Tightly packed 2 cups chopped)

1/4 cup moong dal/pasiparuppu.

pinch of turmeric.

1 green chili

1/4 tsp jeera/cumin seeds.

1 small onion/vengayam.

Salt as required

Preparation:

Soak moong dal with required water ,turmeric for 30 minutes(if your dal cooks fast you can soak it for 10 minutes).

Soak the spinach in water for 30 minutes (If you get organic then no need to do this step).

Remove the stem and chop the spinach fine.

Chop the onions very fine. Cooking:

Add the chopped spinach to already soaked dal.

Add jeera,chili,chopped onions as well to the pressure cooker.

Make sure there is enough water (not too much at least to submerge the dal).

Pressure cook it for a whistle.

When the pressure releases add required salt and mash it fine.

Serve it with sambhar ,rasam or kulambu .

We had it with poondu kulambu ,i can say its the best combo.

Let me ask you "What combo you will have"?

This is a south Indian style Dal palak (because i do it ,i say it south Indian).Dal palak is a very mild curry that goes very well with kulambu and sambhar.If added little more spice(chili or sambhar powder) you can have it for roti as well(Indian style flat bread).This curry can be made with any greens available,I made it with Spinach the Palak .We south Indians call it as pasalai keerai.This Spinach is mostly available in cities.So people who are trying this curry who don't have spinach/palak available go with other greens like arai keerai,mula keerai,Methi or vendhaya keerai(fenugreek leaves) etc.This Keerai masiyal is one of the tastiest mild curries of South.You can add toor dal instead of moong dal and temper the curry with mustard and urad dal after the curry is done.I pressure cooked the spinach with moong dal like my mom do,If you don't want the greens to be cooked in pressure cooker.Pressure cook the dal and mash it .Saute spinach and combine both of them together.