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November 16, 2012

KEERAI SAMBAR & RAW BANANA PORIYAL– LUNCH RECIPES


I learnt both keerai sambar & raw banana curry recipes from my MIL. Its a nice combination. I usually make this sambar once in a week as its healthy. We love this combo. My MIL says , keerai sambar needs less tamarind and more dal. This sambar should be little bit thicker than our usual sambar. I used Arai keerai ( Amaranthus) here.U can try Mulai keerai & siru keerai , karisilankanni keerai too..If u r using siru keerai or karisilankanni keerai  add little more tamarind as those leaves tastes slighlty bitter..
INGREDIENTS
  • Arai keerai (Amaranthus) – 1 cup
  • Tamarind – Big gooseberry size
  • Toor dal – 1/2 cup
  • Green chillies – 2 nos
  • Sambar powder – 2 tsp
  • Sambar onions – 12 nos ( use whole onions, no need to chop)
  • Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Hing – 1/2 tsp
  • Salt & water – As needed
To temper:
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Methi seeds –3/4 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • Red chilli – 1 no ( pinch & add) 
METHOD
  • Wash & chop the keerai ( use the stem too ) roughly. Pressure cook toor dal along with greens , 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder & a drop of oil till the dal is nicely mashed and set aside. You can also pressure cook dal & keerai separately. 
  • Extract the juice from the tamarind and set aside.
  • Now in a kadai ,heat oil and all the tempering items one by one  in the same order. Add the sambar onions & green chillies and saute till it turns transparent.
  • Now add the tamarind extract , 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder ,sambar powder , salt & hing. Let it boil well for few minutes with a nice aroma. Then add the mashed dal & greens mixture.Add little water if the sambar is too thick. Boil for 3 –4 minutes and serve hot.

NOTE: Greens can be cooked in the tamarind extract instead of  cooking with dal. But I follow this  method to reduce the cooking time.Sometimes my MIL adds only red chillies .
Adding sambar onions is a must for this sambar. This gives a great smell & taste. If u dont have sambar onions in hand, u can use roughly chopped big onions too..

RAW BANANA PORIYAL / VAZHAKAI PORIYAL

INGREDIENTS
  • Raw banana – 1 no ( big)  OR 2 nos ( if very small)
  • Sambar powder – 1 – 1.5 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Tamarind – Berry sized ( less than small gooseberry size)
  • Salt – as needed
To grind
  • Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Big onion – 1 no
  • Jeera – 1 tsp
To temper
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaves – few
METHOD
  • Wash , peel the skin and chop the raw banana in circles and soak in water. ( to avoid color change)
  • In a vessel, cover cook the raw banana along with salt , a piece of tamarind, sambar powder , turmeric powder , salt with required water.Cook for 5 mins & check the banana is done.Do not over cook them..
  • Now drain the excess water & set aside.Grind the coconut in a mixie, then add the big onion & jeera and run the mixie once or twice to crush the onions.( Onion pieces will be visible)
  • In a kadai , temper all the items given above and add the cooked raw banana pieces & the coarsely ground coconut- onion mixture..Saute in a low flame till u get nice aroma and the golden brown layer forms at the bottom.Add oil if needed..
  • While sauting make sure u don’t break the banana pieces and becomes mushy.
  • Serve with sambar rice !



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22 comments :

  1. Awesome platter dear :) Super healthy sambar with a super delicious side-dish!! Keerai sambar pic looks so delectable :)
    Egg Rasam

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a healthy and delicious combo!!! so delicious and yummy!!
    Sowmya

    Ongoing Event - CWF - Whole Wheat Flour
    Ongoing Event - Let's Party - Eggless Bakes and Treats

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love greens sambar very much..love that simple home kind of meal anyday

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  4. A very delicious & healthy sambhaar!!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  5. Healthy sambar and love the combo...

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  6. Nice healthy and tasty sambar !! wonderful combo !!

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  7. Chitra,
    same pinch. I made mullangi sambar and valaikai poriyal. Wonderful combination they are!!!!

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  8. yummmmm yummm... tqs for sharing..

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  9. Keerai sambar n vazhakkai fry makes a perfect combo,
    s we too make paruppu keerai without tamarind or less tamarind :)

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  10. Delicious sambar & poriyal.. great combo! woww

    Regards,
    Bindu
    http://indianrecipegalleri.blogspot.in/

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  11. Inviting combo, both sambar and poriyal makes me hungry.

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  12. Hi Chitra, you had posted two recipes for Sambhar powder on your website. Which sambhar powder did you use for this recipe ?

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    Replies
    1. I have used my MIL's version. i.e the first version given in that post:)

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  13. Awesome website chitra. Very inspiring. I like the combinations u suggest ..... Thanks for sharing lovely, healthy and traditional recipes. Thanks to ur mom in law too. ����

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  14. Hi chitra,

    I love ur website a lot....especially interested in the combinations that u suggest.....👍 , interesting recipes in every page. Thank u for sharing healthy , traditional recipes..... 👌

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Rizwana :)

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    2. You should not pressure cook or in general cook the spinach covered which will make it lose all its nutrients

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    3. Yeah, even we used to follow this.But nowadays its all changed just for quick cooking.So if we like to follow the old fashioned way, we can go ahead.

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