5/5 (3)

This is one of the most easiest and quick to-do lunch recipes. It totally takes about 30 minutes or even lesser than that to prepare, and very delicious too. Just imagine, having a plate of hot cooked rice, topped with generous amount of this ‘Masiyal’ along with a teaspoon of ghee and appalam (papad) as accompaniment which feels so heavenly, especially on a rainy afternoon.

I rarely ate green leafy vegetables before marriage. But after I tasted this masiyal which my husband made, I loved it and learnt the recipe from him. It is originally my mother-in-law’s recipe. You should also give it a try.

Servings : 4

Ingredients:

1. Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves
2. Green chilli – 1
3. Onions – 1/4 cup (thinly sliced)
4. Tamarind – 1 inch (small piece)
5. Tomatoes – 1/4 cup (roughly chopped)
6. Spinach – 2 cups (tightly packed)
7. Salt – as required
8. Oil – 1 teaspoon

To Temper:

1. Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
2. Urad dhal – 1/2 teaspoon
3. Dry red chilli – 2
4. Oil – 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Heat a thick bottomed vessel, add oil, garlic, green chilli and saute them for few seconds on medium flame. Then add onions, tamarind and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Once the onions start to change color, add tomatoes and saute for another 3 minutes.

3. Then add the spinach leaves along with 1/4 cup water, close the lid and cook for exactly 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the vessel from the heat. I have used baby spinach leaves in this recipe. If using regular spinach leaves, remove the thick stems, chop the leaves and then use.

4. After 5 minutes, the contents look as shown below. We might loose the green color of the spinach if cooked longer than 5 minutes.

5. Blend the above contents along with little salt after it has cooled down. To temper, heat oil in a small tadka pan, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add urad dhal, red chilli and saute for few seconds. Add the tempered contents to the Spinach masiyal.

Note:

No need to add extra water while blending. The masiyal should be of a semi-solid consistency. Also no need to blend the contents to a smooth paste. But I like the masiyal to be smooth, hence I blended it that way.

This goes well with hot cooked rice. Enjoy!

Check my other lunch recipes below:

• Keerai Kootu (Spinach with lentils)
• Cabbage Kootu