Keerai masiyal with garlic. One of the easiest and simplest, yet yummy and flavourful keerai masiyal recipe! (Keerai = greens, Indian spinach, Amaranth leaves).
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What is keerai?
Keerai is a Tamil word which means spinach. There are numerous keerai varieties available in South India.
- Siru keerai
- Mulai keerai
- Arai keerai
Apart from this, there are
- Siru pasalai
- Kuththu pasalai
- Kodi pasalai
- Vendaya keerai
- Agathi keerai
- Red thandu keerai
- Murungai keerai
- Karisalanganni keerai
- Ponnanganni keerai
Keerai is cooked in many ways such as kootu, sambar, poriyal, kuzhambu and one more is masiyal.
I use mulai keerai mostly to use for masiyal which we get easily here in Singapore as round spinach or baby round spinach.
About
Masiyal means mashed. In earlier days, this is called keerai kadaiyal or masiyal. They use pot and maththu to mash with hands itself.
Though I have not seen in my family, have heard from neighbors that they do. Mostly they use dal along with tomato and other ingredients.
But this is the way both my mom and mom in law do. We do not add anything for spiciness in this.
Actually my mom adds a lots of garlic and the hotness from garlic will be enough in this. But my MIL adds only less, still it tastes great.
Hot steamed rice , with ghee and keerai masiyal is mostly everyone's favourite. It's good for kids too and almost my mom makes twice or thrice in a week when we were kids.
Such healthy one, so try and see if you haven't before. I will share another recipe for keerai masiyal here in future, which has no garlic in it.
Method
- Remove the root part of the keerai and look for any other plants and wash the keerai well. Drain and chop it roughly.
- Boil water (very less) and add sugar and chopped greens. Cook until the stems get soft and drain the water.
- Reserve to use it in sambar or in some other gravy u prepare. First grind peeled garlic and salt in the mixer.
- Then add the cooked, cooled keerai and grind well to make a puree consistency.
Serve with hot rice and ghee! Accompany with any curry and enjoy the healthy and tasty masiyal.
Click here to read keerai masiyal in tamil
Recipe card
Easy keerai masiyal recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Keerai bunch
- 3 cloves Garlic
- Salt - As needed
- 2 pinches Sugar
Instructions
- Remove the root part of the keerai and look for any other plants and wash the keerai well 2-3 times.
- Drain and chop it roughly. Boil water (very less) and add sugar and chopped greens.
- Cook until the stems get soft and drain the water.
- Reserve to use it in sambar or in some other gravy u prepare.
- First grind peeled garlic and salt in the mixer.
- Then add the cooked, cooled keerai and grind well to make a puree consistency.
Notes
- Adding sugar while cooking ensures to retain the green colour of the keerai.
- I used mulai keerai, so used the stem as well. If any other keerai variety, use only the leaves.
Cilantro
I like them too and I too make it with garlic. Looks delicious!
NiVi
keerai masiyal is my favourite... !!! looks yummm...
Cool Kitten
I am assuming Keerai means "greens", right?
sangee vijay
fav keerai masiyal,we do it same but use to add tempering also 🙂
yes,adding sugar will helps to retain its green color...looks so inviting...
cute bowls n spoons...loved it 🙂
Spicy Treats
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Aarthi
Raji..Amma makes this often when i was a kid..This was my fav food once upon a time..love it a lot with plain rice..
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
faseela
lovely with attractive color
Suja Manoj
Looks so attractive,creamy and flavorful.
Ramya
lovely green colour..thanks for the tip of adding sugar. never had this before, but im sure its healthy and tasted great with ghee. can we do this with palak as well?
Shanthi
FLAVOURFUL , SIMPLE AND COLOURFUL
RAKS KITCHEN
cool kitten, yes its greens!
Priya dharshini
I luv the keerai masiyal...it luks very yummy
Archana
Wow this is new to me. I make the boiled and garliced spinach today for lasagne need only to puree it to get this right?
Looks cool green
Chitra
Lovely clicks . i dont add sugar. will try next time. I make this very often for raksha 🙂
Elpiniki
This green looks so healthy!
Soumi
I'm not the biggest garlic fan but it does look yummy!And it's healthy too!
Hema
Everybody at home loves keerai whichever way I make it, keerai masiyal being the favorite, love that green color..
Happy Cook / Finla
Looks so good, i have never had this; jere we make something similar but then with cream and spinach.
Premalatha Aravindhan
Healthy recipe,we make it bit different way...love the colour u have got...delicious Masiyal...
Pavithra Elangovan
Love vibrant green color Raji..keerai masiyal is my favorite too and love greens in anything ....healthy 🙂
Puspha
health packed!! goes too well with fried fish
Mahi
Never tried keerai with garlic..this recipe is totally new to me. Very simple and looks yum! Will try it with spinach..
Anu
Simple and nice color. My kids love this masiyal so much.
Smitha
That's healthy and yummy!, good one!
Cham
My fav too with ghee, i use green chilli (1 or 2)+ cumin. Perfect masiyaal!
Sobha Shyam
very easy, healthy n colourful..yum..
Rasi
Looks amazing 🙂 its simple & soo flavourful
george
Looks delicious!!!
http://www.lazzykitchen.com
Sowmya
very simple n healthy masiyal...lovely presentation dear!
Hamaree Rasoi
Very flavorful and delicious masiyal.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Home Cooked Oriya Food
very delicious... love the vibrant color too
Rekha shoban
simple and healthy masiyal!!
Recipe world
Such a simple yet yummy recipe..thanks for sharing 🙂
Sravs
Super healthy and delicious masiyal !!
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Anisha Ranjit
This is a great recipe... never ever made spinach like this. Will try this and we love garlic so I'm sure we'll like it with loads of garlic!
Kavitha Bhargav
when my paternal grandma was there, she used to churn it with dhal churner in 'kal chatti' which tastes awesome... missing those good old days
jeyashrisuresh
Adding garlic in keerai masiyal must be flavorful. Never tried it though.
Sudha Sabarish
This masiyal is very new to me and also easy to prepare.Have bookmarked.
Priya
Love this keerai masiyal simply with papads or pickles..yummm..
Jay
looks super yummy & inviting..;)
Tasty Appetite
hemalata
Very healthy n yummy recipe.
Sumi
My MIL makes it too..but she adda bit of tamarind to it. totally yummy..
Deeps @ Naughty Curry
have to try out ur version without chillies, looks great
Kaveri
A simple, healthy and comfort food for me...we make it very frequently at home
Lushgreenapple
Hi...your blog is really useful for me to learn Tamil cooking. Can you please guide me where I can buy Rani Samayal cookbook? Thanks!
Sushma Madhuchandra
doesn't the smell of raw garlic over power this mashed greens? Looks great though.
Vardhini
My favorite and my mom makes a masiyal with garlic too.
themustardseed
I love this recipe. I never thought about making it this way. I can imagine how delicious it must be with the garlic! YUM!
Anonymous
I've never heard of had keerai masiyal before -- Must try this recipe soon 🙂
http://kirantarun.com/food
janu
hi raks,
thanks for the recipe..have u tried the recipe with beetroot leaves??
If you have any other beetroot keerai recipes pls let us know...
Everytime with beetroots i'll get lots of leaves too..Have heard its edible..
so pls do a post for us..
Sai Prashanth
Keerai means spinach !
Sai Prashanth
Keerai means spinach.
Mohana Priya G
Keerai means any greens - Generic Name
Spinach means Palak or pasalai keerai
Anu
I am typing while eating this masiyal with hot rice and chips. thanks for the awesome recipe...can't believe something this easy can also be so flavourful and healthy all at the same time 🙂
Anu
I am typing while eating this masiyal with hot rice and chips. thanks for the awesome recipe...can't believe something this easy can also be so flavourful and healthy all at the same time 🙂
vidya
hi raji...can i adapt this recipe for other keerai variety too?suggest which one works best.
Nanthini
Hi, thanks for the recipe. What is the keerai you have used in.
Raks Anand
Mulai keerai