Paruppu keerai kootu is a south-indian style dal with whole masoor dal. It is generally served with rice, can also be served with roti/phulkas.
Paruppu keerai known as purslane leaves in english. It is a weed and you can see it growing almost in any place. Whenever i m coming back from yoga classes, i see fresh green patches of purslane growing, my hands go all itchy to pluck them. All parts of this weed is edible, the leaves, flowers and stems.
These leaves can be added to salads and consumed raw. When cooked they have this viscous or gelatinous texture. Many don’t prefer this green for the same reason. If you ask me, it isn’t visible that much not like a flaxseed gel. We south-indians prefer to make kootu with it, amma even makes delicious sambar.
Apart from being a tasty green, it has got lot of health benefits too. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids than any other greens and a good amount of calcium and pottasium too. Why to ignore such a healthy green and run behind supplements. I m fortunate enough to get these greens here in UAE. Most of the vegetable shops like Madina, Lulu, Carrefour have this green in abundance and fresh.
How i clean & store paruppu keerai
- I usually buy 2-3 bunches of paruppu keerai for us, a family of 4. Clean them roughly, by picking any wilted or spoiled stem or leaf. Chop them roughly, Wash them with water.
- I dunk them in cold water, let it sit for 5 minutes, then strain the greens from the water, this way all the mud/dirt remains at the bottom. I repeat the process again, allow the greens to drain well in a colander.
- Once drained, divide them into 2 batches into a ziploc pouch and freeze it. if i m using it the next day, i just refrigerate it.
How i cook paruppu keerai
This recipe of paruppu keerai kootu was made with whole masoor dal. You can also use split masoor dal, moong dal whole or split. If using chana dal, i recommend soaking it for atleast 1 hour to ease the process of cooking.
I make all my kootu in pressure cooker. Soak the dal for 15 minutes, drain and keep aside. Remove the greens for the fridge/freezer. In the pressure cooker, add tadka of mustard seeds, chilies, add greens and tomatoes, saute for a minute. Add sambar/kootu powder,tip in the dal, add enough water. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
Paruppu Keerai Kootu | Purslane leaves dal
Ingredients
- 2 bunches paruppu keerai/purslane leaves
- ½ cup whole masoor dal any other dal can be used
- 1 no medium sized tomato chopped
- 4 tbsp freshly grated coconut
- ½ tsp sambar powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
Tempering
- 2 tsp oil any vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp mustard seeds
- 3 nos green chili
- ⅛ tsp hing/asafoetida
- a sprig of curry leaf
Instructions
- Clean, Wash and Chop the Greens. I usually do this ahead. It can also be done just before cooking, paruppu keerai/purslae, doesn't take much time for cleaning and chopping.
- Soak the whole masoor dal in water for 15 minutes. Drain and keep aside until use
- Heat a pressure cooker with oil for tempering. When the oil is hot, splutter mustard seeds, add green chilies, hing and curry leaves.
- Next add chopped tomatoes to this sizzling tadka. Add turmeric powder and saute for a minute
- To this add chopped paruppu keerai/purslane leaves and mix well. Add the drained masoor dal to the keerai.
- Add 3 cups of water to the keerai. Add sambar powder, freshly grated coconut and salt to this and mix.
- Close the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Once done, let the pressure release on its own.
- We prefer our kootu to be semi-gravy, not so thick or thin. If you feel the consistency of the kootu is thin, let it boil for 10 minutes to get to the right consistency.
- Once done, remove from the stove, serve it along rice or roti.
Video
I usually serve this keerai along with rasam and rice or pack it with roti’s for my hubby’s lunch box.
More Keerai Kootu Varieties
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Unfortunately we dont get this green here and am missing this paruppu keerai very much.. Dal looks super comforting Priya.
Very informative post about these greens! Looks yummy and delicious. Thank you Priya for sending it to Healthy Morsels-Baby and Toddler Foods 🙂
Delicious dal with greens.. my favourite..
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Healthy n delicious curry…
Very healthy n yummy
Event: Dish name starts with M
Looks so delicious! Love it with both roti and rice!
dal looks awesome and so flavorful
Hi Priya Vaasu ,
I'm Punitha of http://www.southindiafoodrecipes.blogspot.in
Paruppu keerai looks delicious and
it is a healthy dish too. At your free time do visit my blog and drop your valuable comments Priya:)
Paruppu Keerai is my favorite.
paruppu keerai comes up on its own without any effort. Mosst of us do not value this nature gift
Delicious dal with greens. I have never tried this dal. I usually cook with toor dal or chana dal.Been ages since I made purslane. We don’t get it here.
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Wow! this is so very simple and delicious! Now I am going to hunt for papuppu keerai leaves. This is one simple and yum dish.
Wow Priya what an interesting way to use purslane with dal. Looks so tempting. I hardly get to see it here in Mombasa but in Nairobi it grows like weed. I remember my mum would use it to make muthiya and also add it handvo.
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Perslane has only started to become popular in the last few years. I just happened to go to the farmers market today and almost bought them to try but then I didn’t. Next time, I will definitely purchase them now I have a delicious recipe to try.
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