For the second day of venturing into the Tamil cuisine, I chose to make a recipe from the Kongu region also called the Kongunadu. Kongu means nectar and this place is thus the land of nectar. The kongunad region comprises of Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Namakkal, Dharapuram, Nilgiris, Kangeyam, and parts of Trichy and Dindugal.
The cuisine of Kongunadu is basically a compilation of recipes from these above mentioned regions. This blog post has beautifully described the beauty of Kongunadu.
I was very reluctant to make this keerai (greens) recipe. This has become one of our favorite since last night dinner and apart from making Keerai Milaguttal, this will be on my top list when cooking with greens. The tanginess of the yogurt along with the spices in very inviting and it tasted great with hot rice, paruppu (lentils) and ghee.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 30 minutes
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Thayir Keerai – serves 4
- Spinach (I used frozen cut leaf spinach) – 1 package (12 oz)
- Onion – 1 (chopped finely)
- Tomato – 2 (chopped finely)
- Yogurt (Slightly sour would work great) – 1 cup (gently whisked)
- Oil – 2 tsp
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
- Red chilies – 3
- Curry leaves – few
- Ginger – ½ inch piece (finely grated)
- Garlic – 2 cloves (minced)
- Salt – to taste
Procedure to make Thayir Keerai –
- Chop and cook the spinach in just enough water. If the spinach is chopped fine, there is no need to blend them. I ran my hand blender a couple of times just to get it all together. Do not make the spinach too mushy and creamy.
- In a pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chilies and the curry leaves and let them splutter.
- Now add the chopped onions and fry it until light brown. Add the ginger and the garlic and fry for a minute more.
- Now add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add the cooked spinach and salt needed. Mix well and let it come to a boil. Simmer for 3-5 minutes to let the flavors come together.
- Meanwhile whisk the yogurt.
- Remove the cooked spinach from the heat and then add the yogurt in it. Mix well and return it to heat. Let it come to gentle boil and then simmer for 5 minutes in low flame.
- Serve hot with rice and ghee!
Kongunadu Style Thayir Keerai | Spinach in Yogurt base
Ingredients
- Spinach I used frozen cut leaf spinach – 1 package (12 oz)
- Onion – 1 chopped finely
- Tomato – 2 chopped finely
- Yogurt Slightly sour would work great – 1 cup (gently whisked)
- Oil – 2 tsp
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
- Red chilies – 3
- Curry leaves – few
- Ginger – ½ inch piece finely grated
- Garlic – 2 cloves minced
- Salt – to taste
Instructions
- Chop and cook the spinach in just enough water. If the spinach is chopped fine, there is no need to blend them. I ran my hand blender a couple of times just to get it all together. Do not make the spinach too mushy and creamy.
- In a pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chilies and the curry leaves and let them splutter.
- Now add the chopped onions and fry it until light brown. Add the ginger and the garlic and fry for a minute more.
- Now add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add the cooked spinach and salt needed. Mix well and let it come to a boil. Simmer for 3-5 minutes to let the flavors come together.
- Meanwhile whisk the yogurt.
- Remove the cooked spinach from the heat and then add the yogurt in it. Mix well and return it to heat. Let it come to gentle boil and then simmer for 5 minutes in low flame.
- Serve hot with rice and ghee!
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