Keerai Kootu (Spinach Dal)

Spinach is one of my favorites, because there are so many possiblities with spinach and so much healthy!

Cooked spinach is an excellent source of iron, a mineral essential for women. Boosting iron by eating spinach is a good idea, because, in comparison to red-meat - a well known source of iron, spinach provides iron for less calories and totally fat-free!! cool!!

I make sure that I cook spinach atleast 3 times in a week.. this Keerai kootu is a very authentic south indian dish that is commonly cooked in every house.. Very easy, try it!


Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch
Toor Dal - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 4 pods
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes - 1 cup (chopped)
Red chillies - 2
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook toor dal, rougly chopped onions, chopped garlic, chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder together. Mix with 1 cup water and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and season with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds.
3. When they splutter, add red chillies and fry for a min.
4. Add chopped spinach, chilli powder and salt and fry well.
5. Cover and cook for a few mins in low heat.. until the spinach gets cooked and the water completely evaporates.
6. Add the cooked dal to the spinach mix and boil it for 5 mins. You can add more water if you need to.

Serve hot with plain rice or chapathis.