Thursday

Keerai (Spinach) Molagutal



This is second on the list of fav. food for me. My amma is obsessed with making leafy greens atleast twice a week and so we used to get to eat this once a week and the other time it was thota-kura or some other leafy greens that the sabjiwali would get.

This dish a total palghat iyer dish and i am not aware if proper tamilians (u know what i mean) or keralites make this...if i am wrong about this..feel free to correct me...make me eat crow in public :(

My fav. way of eating this is lots of molagutal with some curd and avvakai- cut in mini bits stirred in it..but i have some peculiar eating habits...normally at my home it is eaten with rice and a curry...like potato fry or even curd-pachhadi (not the andhra style..somewhat like raita with coconut ground in it)

Here is the recipe:

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Spinach - 1 packet or 4-6 bunches.... i use baby spinach....much tastier
Red Chilly whole - 3
Jeera - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 2 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - a small pc....optional
Oil - 1 tsp.

For tadka:

Oil - 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.

Method:

1. Pressure cook the dal and keep aside.

2. Chop the spinach finely and cook it in a kadai with some salt and turmeric powder.

3. Mash the spinach well in the kadai...(u can also puree this in a blender if you like a smooth texture)

4. Fry the red chilly and urad dal in a tsp. of oil and then blend it with jeera and coconut to a smooth paste.(do not fry the jeera)

5. Add the above ground mixture to the dal and mix them well and add to the mashed/pureed spinach.

6. Keep the molagutal in medium-high heat and allow it to boil for 5 minute..u can now add the haggery if you want.

7. Do tadka with rai using a tsp. of oil.

Notes:

1. If you are planning to puree it..do not bother chopping it finely...just cut in huge chunks and let it cook down in the kadai...if you are planning to just mash it..chopping it finely makes the mashing easier....

This is off to Linda who blogs at
Out of the garden and who is hosting JFI - Toor dal

27 comments:

Laavanya said...

I love spinach milagootal... though I haven't added jaggery before but have added pepper.. based on the name, i always assumed it had pepper. :)

Happy Diwali Rajitha!

And.. a teeny tiny thing I noticed.. i think you meant chopping instead of shopping.. hee hee.. :)

FH said...

Guess what Rajitha! Linda just announced JFI-Toor Dal today! Send this!:))
Looks delicious, sweetie, Happy Diwali. Enjoy!:))

Rajitha said...

ha ha..you are right..oops..i will change it!!...laav.. i saw the recipe in the plaghat iyer book i have..coz i thought my amma may have skpped it b'coz she does not like pepper...but there is no pepper in the recipe..there is pepper is molagushyam..but none in molagutal..hmm

Richa said...

yeah, toor/palak makes one yum combo!
Happy Diwali, sweetie!

Padmaja said...

Rajitha!!
happy diwali to you n family!!
that dish looks simply superb!!

Rajitha said...

asha - haappy diwali to u and ur family to dearie...and thnks for reminding on the event..first time i have made it like maybe the same day or next day of the event..yahoo!!

Finla said...

Happy Diwali to you and family.
I love this dish.
My sister makes this and when i am there with her i love it .

Sig said...

I don't know if proper keralites make it ;) but I have a very similar recipe where I omit jaggery and add tamarind :) It is not a mallu recipe though, got it from some cookbook.

TBC said...

Hey R, I make the exact smae thing but use chayote squash instead of spinach. I guess I shd call it Chayote molagutal then:-)
Have to try it out with spinach the next time now.
BTW, ur fav Food Network chef is expecting a baby;-) What are ur thoughts?;-0

sra said...

Looks delish, happy Diwali!

Finla said...

Now how can that be i had put a comment here today aparently it must have got lost.
Rajitha Happy Diwali to you and you family.

Swaruchy said...

Looks hip and new Rajitha....YUM :-)
Enjoy ur festival girl :-)

Rina said...

Hey, Rajitha I've never add jaggery or coconut to this preperation anytime. I'll try it next time.

AnuSriram said...

Looks delicious rajitha... Nice recipe. Will try it soon... Wish u a happy diwali!

Anonymous said...

Nice recipe, Did you see the JFI-(toordal)theme for this month. This will be prefect entry :). Happy Deppavali..

Cynthia said...

So creamy!

Namratha said...

Hey this is an interesting way to make the dal, I usually use Yellow Moong with spinach...gonna try it with Toor next time :)

Rajitha said...

richa - thnks hon and happy diwali to u 2 :)

padmaja - thnks..and happy diwali to u too :)

happy cook - isn't it yum!! healty too

sig - ah! a propah mallu telling me it is not their dish...heavens..the crow eating session has been eliminated

tbc- i was thinking i should have got some gifts and chocolates for the happy news ;)..i am happy for her tho...
and yes! you can call it veg. molagutal..we make the same thing, but instead of spinach put in carrots,cauli,peas and what we want..

sra - thnks and happy diwlai to u too :)

happy cook - it is there girl..thnks for commenting 2wice.love it!!

siri - happy diwali to u too bubbly!!

rina - the jaggery just adds a hint of sweetness...

anu -thnks..happy diwali to u too :)

madhu - happy diwali..i have sent it for JFI - a happy coincidence ;)

cyn - thnks :)

namratha - well i make it with moong..but like a palak dal...lemme know how u like it

KellytheCulinarian said...

Mmm, that sounds tasty. Spinach is really good for you too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajitha,

This looks absolutely mouthwatering with the baby spinach, and so easy to make esp. if you have the dal already in fridge like I do :):)

Thanks for this lovely and *first* recipe for JFI Toor Dal! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey I too made spinach dal, ofcourse my mom' way!! Your version is also looking awesome. Thanks for sharing rajitha.

Rajitha said...

kelly - welcome to my blog :)..it is tasty..and i know healthy too...i feel like lucy ;)

linda - it is easy and i am so happy to be the first entry ;)

hima - isn't it great..all of us have our versions and all of them taste good :)

Kajal said...

Toor dal and spinach is great combination and healthy too. Looks yummy my dear.:)))

Seena said...

we make this without jaggery, hubby's favorite, so often make it..very healthy dish..!

Bong Mom said...

What aquick entry for JFI !!!! I also tend to put greens in my dal whether the recipe calls or not doesn't matter, easiest way to eat some greens

Sagari said...

dal looks delecious

Bharathy said...

Oh so you were not aware of the JFI,when you peblished this??Perfect timing..!!