Keerai Poriyal / Spinach stir-fry

Poriyal is the tamil word for a fried or sauteed vegetable dish. The word ‘poriyal’ is called as ‘palya’ in Kannada and ‘vepudu’ in Telugu. It is normally made by shallow frying shredded or diced vegetables along with spices.

With coconut giving a nice flavor to the dish, this mildly spiced keerai poriyal is liked by everyone in my family. Infact if I cook spinach/keerai this way, then there is a high demand for it. This is a perfect side dish recipe!!

One more to add, this side dish takes very less time to cook with less effort. It is mostly ready in less than 20 minutes.

I have shown the variety of spinach I used in the picture below. You can make this recipe using any variety of spinach. Just make sure to clean it well before starting to cook. Remove the roots and use the stem portion along with leaves if the stem is edible.

Whenever I make this at home, I like eating the side dish more than the main dish😊❤

INGREDIENTS

  • Spinach/ keerai- 2 bunches
  • Onion- 1 small ( finely chopped)
  • Garlic cloves- 3 ( finely chopped or slit thin lengthwise)
  • Red chilli- 2
  • Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
  • Split urad dal- 3/4th tsp
  • Cumin seeds- 3/4th tsp
  • Asafoedita powder- 1/4th tsp
  • Grated coconut- 3 to 4 tbsp
  • Salt- as needed.

PROCEDURE

Clean the spinach/ keerai well and remove the roots. Stems are edible in the spinach, I used. So chop the leaves along with stems to fine.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds splutter, add split urad dal, cumin seeds and red chilli.
Add asafoedita powder and garlic cloves. Do not burn the asafoedita powder. Saute them together for 30 seconds in medium flame.
Then add the finely chopped onions and saute till it turns translucent in medium flame.
Once onion turns translucent, add the chopped spinach/ keerai.
Add salt. Cook in high flame till the leaves shrink and water evaporates.  Do not cover it with lid and cook.
Once the moisture evaporates, add the grated coconut.
Mix everything well and switch off the flame.
Ready.

LIST

  • Do not cover with a lid and cook the spinach/ keerai as it will change the color.