Keerai Sambar #2

Things are getting a little hectic around here. For the past couple of months, I had been cooking and clicking for the Blogging Marathon themes two weeks in advance.But since the last week of Jan, everything is going on so fast and so many things need to be done , that I did not even have a single post ready!

In fact, this post is literally piping hot.Yes, it has been clicked right off the stove and posted immediately. I was still unsure what to prepare for the post today with the theme - Cooking from Books until 12 pm! I have loads of books but no time to go through them. I picked one randomly and was glad that I could cook something from that book which would serve the double purpose of having a dish to post and a dish for lunch.

I got a couple of fresh palak bunches from the farmers market this morning and decided to use it for the recipe from Chandra Padmanabhan's - Southern Flavors. I have reviewed this book earlier and after preparing Moru appam from this book, haven't tried anything else. So picking up this book at random made me happy so that I could try something new for the post and our table as well.

I already have a Keerai sambar recipe.But the author's version is quite different. She has credited the recipe to her cousin Chitra and calls it Chitra's Keerai Sambar!

I have followed her recipe and made changes in the quantity of ingredients only.

I used:

Palak / Spinach -2 smll bunches, leaves alone

Toor dhal - 1/2 cup

Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Tomato- 1

Tamarind paste- 1 teaspoon, diluted in 1/2 cup warm water

Grated ginger - 1/2 teaspoon

Green chillies- 4, slit

Sambar powder- 2 teaspoons

Asafoetida - a pinch

Turmeric powder - a large pinch

Salt to taste

For tempering

Oil- 2 teaspoons

Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds- 1/2 teaspoon

Red chili - 1, broken into bits

Curry leaves - a few

Garnishing

Ghee- 1 teaspoon

Coconut oil- 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves- finely chopped

1. Wash both the dals and pressure cook with turmeric, quartered tomato along with 2 cups of water. Cook for 10 minutes or till the dal is soft.Do not discard the water.Mash the dal along with the tomato and keep aside.
2. In a pan, put in the washed and chopped spinach leaves, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle a little water and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Heat oil for tempering and add the ingredients to temper.
4. When the mustard pops, add asafoetida powder,ginger, green chillies and mix well.
5. Add the tamarind extract, salt, sambar powder, and simmer for 10 minutes or till the tamarind extract reduces a little.
6. Put in the cooked spinach and mix well.
7. Add the mashed dal and check the consistency. [Add more water if needed.If it is too watery, let it simmer till you get the desired consistency.]
8. Simmer for a few minutes  for the flavors to blend and remove from heat.

Before serving drizzle the ghee and coconut oil and sprinkle coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Note :

• The original recipe uses Capsicum. Since I did not have capsicum I skipped it. If using cut into 1 " cubes and add in step 4.
• The flavor is enhanced when served drizzled with coconut oil and ghee. Do not skip that part.

Take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#25

Bon Appetit...