Keerai Molagootal | Spinach Kootu | Keerai Kootu
Keerai Molagootal or Keerai Kootu is an excellent side dish to accompany rice for a sumptuous meal. This version is more famous in Kerala. It takes about 30 minutes to make this spinach kootu, and it is an excellent recipe to make for a quick dinner.
Keerai Molagootal is a very typical Palakkad Iyer dish, and I love this Keerai kootu more than the typical Tanjore Iyer's keerai masiyal.
The main reason I like this better than the masiyal is that I just cannot seem to make the masiyal like how my mother or grandmother would make it.
This recipe for keerai molagootal is from my dear friend, who gave it to me way back in those days when I was just learning to cook. Since then, I have made it exactly like she told me, and it works out great.
Spinach kootu is a wonderful combination of steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee. This is one of my favorite recipes to make with freshly picked spinach from our backyard or with frozen spinach.
Why make this recipe?
- This kootu is a great way to include spinach/greens in our diet.
- Spinach or keerai has a lot of health benefits and is one of the healthiest vegetables to routinely include in our diet.
- Keerai molagootal takes just about 30 minutes to make.
- This keerai kootu can be made with fresh or frozen spinach.
- The ingredients needed to make spinach molagootal are pretty straightforward.
- And it is a Vegan and Gluten-free recipe.
Ingredients and substitutes
Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipes.
Spinach - I use either fresh or frozen spinach to make this recipe. We can use any kind of keerai / spinach, like molakeerai, arai keerai, or palak. Here in the US, I mostly use the Palak as that is what is easily available.
Lentil - I use tuvaram paruppu / toor dal to make Keerai Molagootal. This is the biggest difference between the regular keerai kootu and molagootal.
To fry and grind together - coconut oil, ullutham paruppu or urad dal, Cumin seeds / jeeragam, red chilies, and grated coconut. I like to use coconut oil for my molagootal and kootu as it enhances the flavor of the dish.
For seasoning - coconut oil, mustard seeds, ullutham paruppu or urad dal, and red chilies.
Step-by-step process
- Wash the toor dal and cook until mushy. Keep it aside.
- In a small pan, fry the ingredients (urad dal, red chilies, cumin seeds, and coconut). Once it cools, grind it into a smooth paste.
- In a pan, cook the keerai with very little water (uncovered) until it reduces in volume and becomes soft (about 6-7 minutes).
- If using frozen spinach, add ½ cup of water and let it thaw in the microwave or in a pan.
- If you have a hand blender, grind the keerai until smooth, or grind it in a blender. When using a regular blender/mixer, make sure that the keerai cools down a bit before grinding.
- Add the ground mixture, salt, and the cooked dal and mix well. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes (about 5-7 minutes).
- Season the Keerai Molagootal with mustard seeds, urad dal, and red chilies and serve hot with rice.
Serving suggestion
Keerai molagootal tastes great with hot rice and a dollop of ghee. I also like to make some dry poriyal or salad with the meal. My younger one likes the simple carrot kosumalli / salad with it, and that is what I made today with Keerai molagootal.
Expert Tips
- Always cook the spinach without the lid on the pan. Not sure of the reason, but my mother always said to cook it without covering it.
- If you have chopped the spinach finely, we can get away without grinding it as well.
- Use coconut oil to fry the ingredients as well as to season the molagootal. Coconut oil enhances the flavor of the dish to the next level.
- Molagootal can be made with mixed vegetables as well. We use the same recipe, except we use mixed vegetables instead of spinach.
Frequently asked questions
We can use any kind of keerai. Choose from molakeerai, arai keerai, or palak. We grow a lot of malabar spinach (pasalai keerai) in our backyard, and we can use that as well to make molagootal.
Typically for kootu, we use payatham paruppu / moong dal. But for molagootal, we use toor dal.
Similar Kootu recipes
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter/X
Recipe
Keerai Milagootal | Spinach Kootu | Keerai Kootu
Equipment
- pan
- hand blender
- ladle
Ingredients
- 4 cups Spinach of firmly packed leaves
- ¼ cup Tuvaram paruppu/toor dal
- to taste Salt
To fry and grind together -
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 3 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu /Urad dal
- 1 teaspoon Jeeragam/cumin seeds
- 3 Red chilies
- ¼ cup Coconut grated
To season -
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu/urad dal
- 1 or 2 Red chilies
Instructions
- Wash the dal and cook until mushy. Keep it aside.
- In a small pan, fry the ingredients mentioned above and once it cools grind it into a smooth paste.
- In a pan, cook the keerai with very little water (uncovered) until it reduces in volume and becomes soft (about 6-7 minutes).
- If you have a hand blender, grind the keerai until smooth or grind it in blender. If using a regular blender/mixer, make sure that the keerai cools down a bit before grinding.
- Add the ground mixture, salt and the cooked dal and mix well. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for few minutes (about 5-7) minutes.
- Season the Keerai Milagootal with mustard seeds, urad dal and red chilies and serve hot with rice.
Notes
- Always cook the spinach without the lid on the pan. Not sure of the reason, but my mother always said to cook it without covering.
- If you have chopped the spinach finely, we can get away without grinding it as well.
- Use coconut oil to fry the ingredients as well as to season the molagootal. Coconut oil enhances the flavor of the dish to the next level.
- Molagootal can be made with mixed vegetables as well. We use the same recipe except use mixed vegetables instead of spinach.
Tastes just like my family's! Thank you for sharing.
This looks relish…..will try soon as I love my greens…thankyou
Pretty good, I really didn't know what I was making and it only makes a small amount, feeds more like two people. I also couldn't figure out how to cook such a small quantity of day, so mine was kind of crunchy. But the seasonings were great, lovely after taste.
What an amazing recipe of spinach. New to me but would love to try. Spinach is so good for you.
Love this Kerala-style spinach kootu. We all loved it with sona masoori rice and chapathi. Thanks
I definitely want to try this vibrant, delicious sounding dish!
Lovely, healthy recipe. I think the reason to not cover and cook may be to retain the green color of spinach.
That’s true….I was going to write the same… thanks
My family love spinach, especially my baby brother! A packet of spinach is always in our fridge for that reason. Loved making this south Indian style spinach which turned out so good for us.
I love spinach as a side dish, but have very limited amount of recipes to make. I am so excited to give this one a try!
My family loves spinach and when I prepared this dish, everyone enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing this delicious dish.
This is such an easy and delicious spinach recipe. The ground coconut spice paste added so much flavor. Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe.
This is such a great dish! I love the flavors and so did my family, I can't wait to make it again!! 🙂
This looks so delicious. I am from Uttarakhand and we also make something similar with spinach. It's eaten with rice and it's one of my favorite pahadi recipes. Can't wait to try this South Indian version. I am sure I will love it too.
I too am a pahari and love kaapa made of spinach….
Love the vibrant color and certainly, the spicy kick is a plus for me!
Sounds delicious, and very healthy. I will have to visit a local specialized store and get ingredients. I'm excited to try this recipe out.
I was intrigued to make this as it's a whole new level of flavors to me, and I am so happy I did!! So delicious!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing keerai milagootal molagootal spinac recipe! Will surely have this again! It's really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Sandhya, this is an interesting way to prepare spinach. Keerai Kootu looks so inviting. I usually make spinach and moong dal mixture. For a change of flavour and style will try out this recipe.With coconut, am sure it will be yummy.