HOW TO COOK Simple Keerai Masiyal

Keerai Masiyal is a simple dish but with good taste and we used to have this keerai masiyal with plain pappu rice in our childhood. It's a very healthy meal for the kids. In this method, you can make Masiyal with different types of greens that are available in your place. I made this with Spinach that are abundant in our place.

Ingredients

Spinach Leaves - 1 full bunch ( Palak / Paala kura / pasalai keerai )

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Pinch

Jeera Seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1 pinch

Thuvar Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi Pappu - Cooked 3 tbsp

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Mina Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Dry red chillies - 3 medium ones

Method

• Wash the spinach leaves and cut into small pieces and put them into a thick bottomed vessel.
• Add 1 tbsp of jeera, little hing / asafoetida , turmeric powder, a pinch of sugar into the same vessel.
• Add very little water into the vessel and allow them to cook well.
• After its cooked, add 3 tbsp of cooked toor dal / thuvaram paruppu / kandhi pappu into the vessel and mash everything together as much as you can.
• Add 2 tsp of salt into the mixture and mix them thoroughly.
• Switch off the heat after a minute. Then, start the tempering process by adding the above ingredients. Pour them onto the keerai masiyal and mix well.
• Now, the healthy keerai masiyal is ready to be eaten with rice...

Variations

For more spicyness, add a green chilly slit into two halves along with the spinach leaves. And you can mash it with the spinach leaves after adding the cooked dal.

Tips

By adding a pinch of Sugar to the green leaves while cooking, you can retain the green colour in the dish even after its cooked.

For any diet menu plan, you can confidently include this keerai masiyal in your diet menu by omitting the tempering process.

HOW TO COOK Aviyal - Steamed Vegetables in Coconut Yogurt Creamy Gravy

Aviyal is a delightful mix of all vegetables in a creamy yogurt sauce. Its a very traditional dish and mostly served in many marriages in South India. This has been one of my favourites since childhood and I very often make this at home too.Though i made this Aviyal many times, I cannot even come nearer to the version which my mom makes it till today.!!! Its very easy to make this Aviyal with an excellent taste and flavour and its equally easier to spoil the aviyal as well. To my knowledge, if the grinding mixture is of correct consistency and the vegetables are steamed to the right level, then the Aviyal is heavenly with any rice. If any of the things get wrong in the middle, then the aviyal will not be as expected. Also, i prefer to make aviyal with fresh curd only and not with sour curd. I have not added Drumsticks to the aviyal today as I don't have it at home. But drumsticks contribute more to the aviyal flavour. So, try to add atleast few drumsticks to the aviyal if you have it in abundance.

Ingredients
For Grinding
Fresh Thick Curd - 1 Cup
Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1\2 cup
Jeera - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1 Small square
Green chillies - 4 Medium
Vegetables
Carrot - 1 Medium
Potato - 3 Medium
Chow Chow - 1 Medium
Zuccini - 1 Big
Raw Banana - 1 Big
Brinjal - 2 Big 
Broad Beans \ Avaraikai \ Chikkukai - 8 to 10
White Pumpkin - 1 Small portion
Tempering
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 stem
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Method

1. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above into a smooth creamy paste. While grinding, add little curd only to the mixture and keep the remaining curd aside which can be added to the aviyal at the end.
2. Wash all the vegetables first and cut them into desired shapes equally. Let the pieces be not too small.
3. On a thick bottomed vessel, first place the hard vegetables at the bottom and place the other watery vegetables on top one by one.
4. Add little water and little salt into it and let the vegetables get cooked and steamed for few minutes.
5. After its cooked fully, add the grounded mixture and required amount of salt into the vessel and mix them well. Let the aviyal cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Then, add oil in a tempering pan and add the ingredients as mentioned above to the heated oil. When it sputters, pour them over the Aviyal.
7. Add the remaining curd \ yogurt into the aviyal, mix them well and switch off the heat.

Variations

You can add few drops of coconut oil to the aviyal at the end.

You can add any vegetables of your choice in the aviyal.

You can add more green chillies to make the aviyal more spicy.

Tips

Don't overcook the vegetables and make it more pasty.

Don't add sour curd \ yogurt into the aviyal which adds more sourness to the aviyal.

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