Greens: Stir-fry and puree

One of the biggest thing, I missed once moving abroad is Greens. Back home, greens are served in everyday lunch menu. We get plenty of varieties according the season and availability. To tell the truth, I cannot even recognize just by seeing many green leaves till now.
In my home none was fussy eating the greens, usually we start eating greens first with rice and move forward to gravy and finish with rasam! My mom prepares everyday but alternate with stir- fry and puree with one variety each day! She makes sure we don’t get bored of the same green or taste.
Contrary, my son doesn’t even try a spoon, but it was one of the most lovable foods when he was toddler!
I am posting two ways of cooking greens: Masiyal (coarsely pureed and stir-fry), could be adapted with any greens except few…
The masiyal ( coarsely mashed greens) is served with hot rice and some ghee drizzled over the top!
Next come, the stir-fry, which is usually accompanied as a side dish for rice! For the masiyal (mashed/puree) I used Swiss chard, the taste is equivalent to “Arrai Keerai (tamil)” and the collard green taste pretty much like “drumstick leaves or Avutti Keerai (tamil)” has slight bitter taste.



Swiss chard Masiyal
 

Ingredients:
Sweet chard: one bunch
Green chillis: 3 or more
Garlic: 3 cloves peeled
Cumin: 1 tsp
Salt: seasoned only after puree the green or cooked !

Seasoning:

Red chillies: 2 broken into pieces (take out the seeds)
Split urad dhal: ½ tsp
Oil or ghee: 1 tsp

Method:
Clean the swiss chard, wash and chop. Take a pot big enough to hold the leaves, add the green chillies, garlic and cumin add the swiss chard and ¼ cup or less of water!
Cook until the leaves are tender and puree coarsely with hand blender.
Start the seasoning in separate pan with ghee, add the dhal and fry until golden brown and add the chillies. Switch off the stove and add to the puree green.

Serve the masiyal with ghee and enjoy with white rice.

************************************ 


Collard Green
Collard green has a slight bitter taste; the leaf is dark green and bit thick too. Wash the leaves, contains lots of soil, remove the white (hard part) which is in middle. Collard Green stir- fry

Ingredients:

Collard green: a bunch (remove the white part in middle) washed and chop into bit size
Onion: ½ diced
Red chillies: 4 to 5 broken into pieces
Urad dhal: 1 tsp
Coconut: 1 tbsp grated
Salt: Only add after the greens are cooked (per taste)
Oil: 1 tsp

Method
Start heating oil, add the urad dhal, once fried add the red chillies , after few seconds add the onion. Fry until translucent.
Add the chopped leaves and and add little water, keep in medium heat and cook until they start wilt and tender.
Once cooked adjust the salt level and let the water evaporate. Sprinkle the coconut and switch off the stove.

The slightly bitter taste stir-fry taste good with white rice!

Tips to cook Greens:

Never cover with lid the green while cooking , it will loose the green color
Always add salt once the green is wilted or cooked
Add only minimun water, usually it cooks on his own water

*Sending to SWC:Greens hosted by Sowmya , event originated by Laksmi
*I just love Green , not only in food, seeing green after an harsh winter, definetly lifts ur spirit! Sending to FIC:Favourite hosted by Curry leaf, event originated by Sunshinemom

Comments

karuna said…
we had a chard stir fry on sunday at a farmers market. It was an east african stall. That was the first time I tasted it. I loved it. ure recipe looks nice and really simple.
Nithya Praveen said…
Hey cham,am glad to be the first one to comment.I agree greens is sumtng which is a prob here.Except for Palak and swiss chard nothing is available.I hated keerai masiyal as a kid,now i crave for it.When i went back home on a vacation,i kept asking mpm to make keerai everyday...guess i had missed it so much.Its such a healthy one.Something new i learnt was,after mashing keerai,add a lil bit of besan(gram flour)mixed in water and lil bit of curd to the keerai,allow it to boil and then add tadka,it taste lil different n nice.I jes learnt it from my cook in India.Need to try this for myself too:).
Gita Jaishankar said…
Nice pictures Cham...I too made keerai poriyal today...I made it with Spinach. Collard greens poriyal does sounds interesing...I have to try it soon :)
my mom adds a tbsp of cookedthur dhal to make the masiyal creamy. nice pics cham.
Dori said…
Greens are always so amazing, no matter which variety, looks awesome!
Sunshinemom said…
This is one of my favourite ways to hog greens:) I just remembered the standard cry of 'arakeerai, mulakeerai....' that green sellers normally call out in Chennai:). Your masiyal is absolutely ravishing!
Vani said…
Never liked greens as a kid but now of course, I've wisened uo! :) Both look great, Cham!
Lakshmi said…
Very healthy and yummy entrees Cham. I love masiyal too esp with yogurt :) Nice pictures too :)
Unknown said…
Havent tried collard greens. Tempted to try seeing your recipe!
amna said…
i love stir fried greens but TH doesn't so I have to sneak it into a meal somehow :D
Sujatha said…
Both greens look gorgeous, especially the masiyal! Rice with masiyal and a tsp of hot ghee on top... Gal, I'm drooling! Haven't tried Swiss chard yet, though I always wanted to. Bookmarking both!
Indian Khana said…
Nice pics with good tips...nice entry for the event
A_and_N said…
I love chard! I tried collard greens and I didn't like it too much. Mebbe I will try your version!
Lena Jayadev said…
Perfect recipe for the event..i just loved the color...healthy recipe..your recipe is bookmarked.. :)
Suparna said…
Hi Cham,
I too love greens. I used to be fussy about greens during my kiddo days :) but now I just love to incorporate them in many a ways possible. Thanks for the two ways of making the greens, and of course the tips are very useful dear.
Beautiful snaps.
tc
Raks said…
This is exactly how we too make both :)

You are right we all miss those varieties of keerai and since we ourselves find very rarely,we would have missed to practice our kids eating greens...

My son too was not eating once but once he became Popeye fan,I give him now a days on the name of Popoye :D
jayasree said…
I too cook greens mostly as masiyal and thoran/chundal apart from keerai molagootal.

Both your keerai dishes looks gorgeous.
Nice pics cham...Greens are very much necessary to include in our daily diet..
Manju said…
ohh..i love arai kerai masiyals!! too bad we dont get those greens here!
Pooja said…
never heard of that green...love greens in any form..looking nice cham..Thanks for introducing it to me..
Sig said…
These are two of my favorite greens!
Unknown said…
Yes Cham . We did feel the quake and went out to the streets!!It has become common here..
Rachel said…
I find it difficult to get my daughter to eat this...
Priya Suresh said…
Absolutely we miss the greens much once we came here, fortunately we have few greens here similar to our greens..swiss chard and collard greens dishes seems delicious and very greeny...simply superb!
Chitra said…
this is different from mine.I use this method to make gongura chutney.Collard fry is new to me..looks nice!!Nice entries cham!!
Unknown said…
Thanks for the lovely entries for the SWC-event...In india, i knew only palak, now I make masiyal and a similar stir fry with any of the greens available in the super markets, they taste almost the same .
Homecooked said…
Thanks Cham for showing different ways to cook the greens Indian way :) I normally stick to spinach but will try these variety now.
Parita said…
Wow these look very healthy and delicious..nice clicks
gtyuk said…
I too miss the arai keerai, mola keerai , murunga keerai etc. I don't miss anything each time I go back to India;
my teddies and all at home love keerai, but I usually opt for the spinach and very rarely I get our variety of keerai from the indian shops...
delicious recipes you've displayed, and nice useful tips!
Deepthi Shankar said…
I love spinach & other greens too .. This masiyal is somethng I need to try .. Chard looks soo good cham
Kayal said…
Love keerai masiyal anytime and your recipe is exactly the same as I do. Nice click
suvi said…
I love green, esp with plain rice and some curd. Fortunately, we get plenty of them here...like your way of making collard. And very nice pics cham
Finla said…
You son is like my daughter she don't eat any greens except for spinach in cream that she likes.
Yeah at home there was always greens, like cheera and then the leavesfrom the drumsticks etc........in our place also we ate everything and when i see my daughter say she don't like this or that and i am like getting angry with her saying she has too much luxury choice that we din't had when we were kid.
Laavanya said…
I can never get enough of masiyal and my mom often made poriyal but would add some diced shallots too.. yummy. Looks awesome and i esp. love the masiyal pic. Cham.
Kalai said…
Awesome recipes with greens,I used to make masial with onions and garlic.
notyet100 said…
both of the dish r new for me,..lovely post and even i luv green colour,..
Bong Mom said…
Loved both of these, seasoning for first is almost similar to what we do with spinach but we don't puree it

Have you tried Kale any of these way ?
Jayashree said…
I love both the variations. Masiyal is comfort food for me....so easy to make and perfectly good to eat.
CurryLeaf said…
Wow,love the stirfry and masiyal.Masiyal is my favourite too.Love the way of adding ghee on top and having it with hot white rice.Have tried collard greens but not as a stirfry.
THANKS for the hearty healthy and green entries.
I love greeens ..looking so good and color is also remained after cooking . Thats wonderful
Love Masiyal! looks delicious...
Nandinis food said…
Healthy Greens!
Our all time fav.
Greens look Green.
Seena said…
Nice green curry!, I love such thick versions.. :)
Usha said…
Both versions of greens look really inviting,have never used chard in this manner will definitely try !
Soma said…
I love my greens .. make all kinds. I love the stir fry!
madhuram said…
Keerai masiyal is our favorite too, but I have not tried it with swiss chard. Also I have not used collard greens yet but heard about the bitterness. Is it bitter than methi?
Cham said…
Sandeepa:No I haven't tried Kale
Purva Desai said…
Nice entry for the event......the colour is soo refreshing and nice way of adding greens in ur diet
Vibaas said…
nice to see these recipes cham. u are giving me some confidence in trying these greens :) i only buy spinach and methi as i am not familiar with others :)
Cham said…
Madhu:It tasted exactly like drumstick leaves poriyal
vandana rajesh said…
Great greens cham. I get my share of greens palak, methi and all for the week from the farmer's market that is held every wednesday amd Sunday near my place. Like u mentioned there is so much variety that sometimes differentiating and identifying is a problem.
ST said…
Looks very delicious and tasty...Havent tried collard greens.Now will try definitely...
AnuSriram said…
Lovely post and beautifuls pics... Delicious recipes.. Go green!
Dhanya Ganesh said…
Nice pictures of the cury.Looks very colorful and easy to make.
You will get various kinds of greens now at Farmer's Market - I get Mozhai keerai, methi, gongura etc
Suganya said…
Very healthy recipes. Looks so good. Nice way to have greens. YUM!
anudivya said…
Yeah greens are a like a delicacy here... I cannot believe how much greens I ate back home, it was there every single day. Some things are just not the same I guess. Your greens look green!, not kidding! Lot of us have a tendency to overcook them and kill the nutrients.
Sia said…
same here. i miss all those gorgeous greens we get in India and it took me quite some time to get adjusted to the greens here.
Unknown said…
I never tried collard greens. I like greens in any form every dish looks delicious and yum nice pic too cham
Easy and simple and healthy too...
bee said…
we got a bit nostalgic about indian leafy stuff - so we got seeds from seeds of india. so far it has been a super flop. still having fingers/toes crossed to make some make masiyal / kootu etc.

-jai
Vaishali said…
Yum, Cham-- I love swiss chard and just this week posted a recipe that uses it. Love that you used it in a masiyal-- looks delicious.
Raaga said…
I don't get many varieties of greens here and hence don't make masiyal, poriyal etc. :(

I'd love to have some with lunch (I ate some masiyal last week at a wedding in Chennai)
Anisheetu said…
Nice click... looks really green....
Unknown said…
I always love keerai...n never tried swisschard..will try this soon CHAM :)
very healthy one cham.. pic looks nice and good try. me too make in the same way.
Recipeswap said…
wow cham these are super healthy easy to make and looks good too.
Unknown said…
This recipe is new to me..but sounds healthy and delicious..Must say Nice Presentation.
Love greens too, but arkeerai is the stuff of dreams here. :)
The nearest I can get is a local variety of spinach which isn't too bad but not the quite the same.
Premyscakes said…
awesome recipe and i just love any variety of greens.
Yasmeen said…
Lovely chard,I also love to spice it up with chillies:)
Great recipe Cham...must say you sure know your vegetables :)
dsdsds said…
Wow... yummy greens... i think chard leaves must be easier to clean.. have never tried with them.. will try it the next time!