Green Leafy Vegetables in US

Hi Usha,

Made Celery More koottu today for lunch with Garlic vetha kozhambu and Milagu appalam...the combination was amazing !!

Usually, I would like to make keerai masiyal or keerai koottu whenever I make vetha kozhambu. But today, made this koottu, and it went wonderfully well with the kozhambu !!

Once again thanks for this idea.

Keep posting more ideas and methods of using the green & leafy veggies we get here...

I am attaching the picture of the same.....:)

Hi Krithika,
That was very fast! Garlic vetha kozhambu and Milagu appalam & celery koottu. I feel like eating now. I too make vatha kuzhambu with this koottu but add peanuts.

I also try to cook rainbow chard or green chard once a week.

Hi Usha,

The comparison that you made with Vazhathandu and Celery, made me want to try this recipe immediately !

Probably I can post pictures of vethakozhambu and milagu appalam too and you can have a virtual lunch/dinner !! What do you say?

As for rainbow and green chard, never tried them before. What recipes do you make with them?

Can you please elaborate the ways you use them?

Cheers
Krithika

Hi Krithika
picture looks very tempting... excellent presentation too! Looking forward to more recipes!

Yummmmmmmmmmmmy in Krithika's tummmyyyyyyyy..

Wish it was in mine tooo Looks so delicious Krithika !!!

me now feel like eating the menu you mentioned.. may be this weekend will prepare me thinks....

I dont think theres anything called rainbow chard, is there? I think its just the different colored ones bunched together

Krithika,

This is what I do with swiss chard, hope you like it.

(1) Poriyal - I am sure you might have heard it, like the ones we make other keerai in Tamilnadu..

Wash and cut the greens as you wish. Cut onions, garlic. After you tadka(mustard, cumin, urad and red chillies), Then a little bit of hing and add onion and garlic. after they fry slightly, add the greens, tumeric and sugar(yes sugar, a pinch to retain the color). let it cook for 5-6 mins. Now add salt and shredded coconut.. Poriyal ready !!!

(2) Keerai paruppu -

Wash and cut the greens as you wish. Cut onions, garlic. After you tadka(mustard, cumin, urad and red chillies), Then a little bit of hing and add onion and garlic. after they fry slightly, add half cup of moong dal (soak it for 1-2 hrs earlier for faster cooking) with one cup of water. Cover and let it cook. Keep checking to make sure it cooks properly without sticking to the pan. Once done, add the greens, tumeric and salt and let it cook for few mins. Thats it!!

You can make the above recipe with any kind of greens, turnip greens, carrot greens and what not ;) very healthy and delicious to eat..

That too keerai paruppu with hot rice and lots of Gheeeeeeeeeee... yummmmmmmmmmmy

Oops.. I didnt mention the quantity for greens, onion and garlic... For one bunch, I normally user 1/2 big red onion and 2 garlics... Change them as per your taste :)

Hi Anandchitra,

Thanks ! Just wanted to show and thank Usha for her suggestion that came out perfect!

Cheers
Krithika

Originally Posted by anandchitra

Hi Krithika
picture looks very tempting... excellent presentation too! Looking forward to more recipes!

Hi Nandhu,

Probably as I mentioned to Usha earlier, I can post pictures of the other items and you can have a virtual dinner for now...!

Thanks for posting the recipes Nandhu...

It's just that we get the frozen spinach,baby spinach in American stores and Paalak in indian stores. So, I make all the keerai recipes with these. Never ventured into the other American greens to make our recipes.

Sure, i will give it a try from now on and be prompt in my feedback too !

As for the keerai poriyal, I make it with our regular keerai minus onion and garlic. So will try your method now...

For keerai paruppu, it is just like our koottu minus onion and garlic once again...but i am just wondering why do you cook moong dhal on stove top, when we can easily do that inside pressure cooker?

Usually for making dhals (for chapathi side dish) or making koottus, I pressure cook the dhals since it is faster and then add to the other ingredients.

One more question, do these chards cook faster/slower/same time as Paalak?

Also, when you say turnip and carrot greens, do you mean the leaves on top of carrot and turnip?

Cheers
Krithika

Originally Posted by Nandshyam

Yummmmmmmmmmmmy in Krithika's tummmyyyyyyyy..

Wish it was in mine tooo Looks so delicious Krithika !!!

me now feel like eating the menu you mentioned.. may be this weekend will prepare me thinks....

I dont think theres anything called rainbow chard, is there? I think its just the different colored ones bunched together

Krithika,

This is what I do with swiss chard, hope you like it.

(1) Poriyal - I am sure you might have heard it, like the ones we make other keerai in Tamilnadu..

Wash and cut the greens as you wish. Cut onions, garlic. After you tadka(mustard, cumin, urad and red chillies), Then a little bit of hing and add onion and garlic. after they fry slightly, add the greens, tumeric and sugar(yes sugar, a pinch to retain the color). let it cook for 5-6 mins. Now add salt and shredded coconut.. Poriyal ready !!!

(2) Keerai paruppu -

Wash and cut the greens as you wish. Cut onions, garlic. After you tadka(mustard, cumin, urad and red chillies), Then a little bit of hing and add onion and garlic. after they fry slightly, add half cup of moong dal (soak it for 1-2 hrs earlier for faster cooking) with one cup of water. Cover and let it cook. Keep checking to make sure it cooks properly without sticking to the pan. Once done, add the greens, tumeric and salt and let it cook for few mins. Thats it!!

You can make the above recipe with any kind of greens, turnip greens, carrot greens and what not ;) very healthy and delicious to eat..

That too keerai paruppu with hot rice and lots of Gheeeeeeeeeee... yummmmmmmmmmmy

Oops.. I didnt mention the quantity for greens, onion and garlic... For one bunch, I normally user 1/2 big red onion and 2 garlics... Change them as per your taste :)

Krithika... This summer venture out to farms and farmers markets.. you will get lots of greens and you will have a feast I bet :)

Yep if its toor dal, pressure cooking them is faster and best.. but moong dal, I personally feel is kinda delicate and dont want to overcook it.. thats the reason I cook stovetop.. may be I am bad with my timings .. if you can pressure cook it without mashing it like a pulp.. sure go ahead !! :)

Chards need a bit more than spinach... their veins(?) are bit bigger me thinks... Also except for the last part.. you can use the stem too.. so it needs more time.. for me it usually take 5-8 mins max..

Yep.. the greens on the top of them are yummy and healthy too...

Hope this helps !!

Oh BTW, yeeeeeeeeeep, the entire meal picture would have been awesome !! may be next time :)

Hi Krithika

I will post recipes using chard after the holidays. I am having company starting tomorrow, so tied up now. Rainbow chard is the one with red and green leaves. It is supposed to be full of nutrients. We also get Newzealand spinach in our backyard. Its leaves are different than the regular spinach and tastes yummy.