For the final day of showcasing the incredible side dishes that make up a thali, a beautiful canopy of what the local cuisine is all about, it is all about greens! The most essential greens that boast the health factor. Greens are always included in different forms. Sometimes it’s in the dal, sometimes as a stir fry, sometime garnished with coconut, other times with lentils to make a great pack!
We mostly use lentils like channa dal, split yellow moong dal to add to the greens. The greens we use are amarnath, the variety that we cal as Seru keerai (Chirri Aaku), because the leaves are small in size. We have another variety or shape of the same, called the Aarakeerai, (Thotakoora aaku in Telugu).
Amma mostly makes the seru keerai as stir fry and use the thotakoora in dal. While Spinach is also used in dals mostly. When it comes to the Thali dishes, we can either use it as a stir fry or a dal. Mostly in which case, Methi leaves are used in the dal.
So when it for me to decide which way to make this side dish, I opted to make it with lots of moong dal. The thali as I said will always have one mixed rice variety, one vegetable, one thick dal or greens with dal. In this thali, we made mango rice,
Snack gourd stir fry, along with the regular dishes.
Serukeerai Pasiparuppu Poriyal
Ingredients Needed for Seru Keerai
Serukeerai – 1 bunch / 3 cups tightly packed
Yellow split moong dal – 1/2 cup
Crushed garlic – 3 – 4 nos
Salt to taste
Red Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds, Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves handful
Hing a pinch
How to prepare Serukeerai Pasiparuppu Poriyal
Wash and soak the moong dal for 15 – 20 mins.
Wash and chop the leaves, keep it aside.
Heat a non stick pan with oil, add mustard, urad dal, curry leaves, saute well.
Then add the chopped leaves, simmer, add turmeric powder, salt, cover with lid and simmer for 10 mins.
Now add the drained moong dal, red chili powder, combine everything. Simmer for another 10 mins.
When the leaves and the dal is cooked, switch off and serve with rice. This takes about 20 mins to get cooked.
Notes:
We always have to be little cautious with adding salt to the greens, as it tends to become salty.
If you want you can par boil the moong dal and then add if you want a softer dal. I wanted the crunch, hence added it as such.
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13 comments
That must be one yummy thali. Somehow preparing thalis seem tedious to me though I prepare 2-3 side dishes everyday. Any dal with greens is a favorite of mine but seems like I haven't come across the greens you used here.
Its been a while i cooked with serukeerai,my favourite green. I can have this poriyal simply with some rice.
photos ae super bright and clear – more than usual – fabulous spread
So this will be like a dry side dish..I use methi and spinach only ..have never really tried to find which other greens are available. ..may be I should look for them and try .
This is very interesting combination of dal with leafy veggies. Must be delicious too…
Tasty poriyal.. That is one tempting thali.
Looks great!Curry must have tasted awesome.
Thats such a tasty and a delicious side Valli. Wonderful spread and looks so good.
That is one stunning Thali Valli. Keep wondering at you. This is a good recipe to include our daily dose of greens. Dal seems to have cooked to perfect.
I really found this recipe interesting. I need to prepare this coz it seems to be healthy. But pls. could u tell me what is serukeerai (gr leafy veg)? Is it the leaves of drumstick.
Jayashree Serukeerai is not drumstick leaves, it's referred as Amarnath leaves, though I am not sure if it's exactly that. I know it's available in south. I am not sure about north as my North Indian friends are not aware of these leaves when I showed it to them. Maybe you can check in your vegetable shop.
Valli, if seerukeerai is amaranth, then it is thotakoora. Lovely poriyal though!
Harini I guess it's another variation of the same family. I have not been able to find proper reference to these leaves. Let me check again.