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    Home » Recipes » Sambar Recipes

    Keerai sambar recipe, South Indian sambar recipes

    October 17, 2008 by Raks Anand 27 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Keerai-sambar-recipe
    Keerai sambar recipe with full detailed video, stepwise pictures for easy learning. Keerai (in tamil) means spinach variety we get in South India.

    This is one of our family favorite. Both at mom's place and in-law's place. Initially I never got a hold on keerai sambar and got it very runny, then later by experience realized that keerai will leave water and have to be careful while adding water. And usually add more dal, sambar powder to make it thicker and spicier otherwise it will be bland.
    Click here for cup measurements
    Green chilli can be replaced with one red chilli while tempering
    Small onions can be replaced with one large onion

    Keerai-Sambar
    Print Pin
    4.84 from 6 votes

    Keerai sambar recipe

    Keerai sambar recipe with detailed full video, stepwise pictures for easy learning. Keerai (Tamil) means a spinach variety we get in South india. 
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Indian
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 25 minutes
    Total Time 45 minutes
    Servings 4
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • 1 bunch Keerai / amaranth leaves
    • ½ cup Toor dal
    • 1.5 teaspoon Sambar powder
    • 1 small gooseberry sized Tamarind 1 teaspoon packed
    • 1 Onion
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
    • Salt

    TEMPER:

    • 2 teaspoon Oil
    • 1 Red chilli
    • ⅛ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
    • ⅛ teaspoon Asafetida
    • ½ teaspoon Mustard
    • 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Peel off small onion skin and slit green chilies.
    • Pressure cook toor dal with 1 & ½ cup water for 4-5 whistles or until done. Mash well and keep aside.
    • Extract tamarind juice by soaking in warm water for 30 mins.
    • I usually extract tamarind juice easily by keeping inside a small bowl along with dal and pressure cooking. This way, we can get the juice efficiently with less effort and water.
    • Clean the keerai by washing it well 2-3 times and chop it. Do not chop too fine.
    • Heat a kadai with oil and add the items under To Temper table in order.
    • Then add onions and green chillies and fry till onions turn golden brown here and there.
    • Add to the tamarind extract, with salt,turmeric and sambar powder and bring to boil.
    • Once it starts boiling, add the chopped keerai.
    • Stir well so that the keerai so gets immersed.
    • Boil till keerai gets cooked, check the stem for doneness by pressing between two fingers.
    • Lastly add cooked toor dal and mix well.Boil for 2 minutes and now keerai sambar is ready!

    Video

    Notes

    • We can use any variety of keerai like arai keerai, mulai keerai or siru keerai.
    • I have used the stem too, you can use leaves alone.
    • Water should be added carefully-very less, since this sambar should be bit thicker in consistency than our usual sambars. Keerai by itself leaves out water and cannot take more water.
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    Keerai sambar method:

      1. Peel off onion skin and slit green chilies. I have updated the recipe with video where I have used red chillies while tempering instead of green chilli.
      2. Pressure cook toor dal with 1 & ½ cup water for 4-5 whistles or until done. Mash well and keep aside.
      3. Extract tamarind juice by soaking in warm water for 30 mins. I usually extract tamarind juice easily by keeping inside a small bowl along with dal and pressure cooking. This way, we can get the juice efficiently with less effort and water.
      4. Clean the keerai by washing it well 2-3 times and chop it. Do not chop too fine.how to make keerai sambar step1
      5. Heat a kadai with oil and add the items under To Temper table in order.Then add onions and green chillies and fry till onions turn golden brown here and there.how to make keerai sambar step1a
      6. Add to the tamarind extract, with salt,turmeric and sambar powder and bring to boil.how to make keerai sambar step2
      7. Once it starts boiling, add the chopped keerai.how to make keerai sambar step2a
      8. Stir well so that the keerai so gets immersed.how to make keerai sambar step3
      9. Boil till keerai gets cooked, check the stem for doneness by pressing between two fingers.how to make keerai sambar step3A
      10. Lastly add cooked toor dal and mix well.how to make keerai sambar step4
      11. Boil for 2 minutes and now keerai sambar is ready!how to make keerai sambar step4a

    NOTE

    • We can use any variety of keerai like arai keerai, mulai keerai or siru keerai.
    • I have used the stem too, you can use leaves alone.
    • Water should be added carefully-very less, since this sambar should be bit thicker in consistency than our usual sambars. Keerai by itself leaves out water and cannot take more water.

    Serve with cooked rice and ghee on top of it..

    Keerai-Sambar

    Other Lunch sambar recipes

    • Chow chow sambar recipe, Chayote sambar
    • Carrot sambar recipe, sambar with garlic
    • Vengaya sambar recipe, chinna vengaya sambar
    • Capsicum sambar recipe, Kudamilagai sambar

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sireesha

      October 17, 2008 at 7:40 am

      Keerai sambar looks awesome ...

      Reply
    2. Happy cook

      October 17, 2008 at 9:54 am

      Delicious, just give ma a whole plate of plain rice with it.

      Reply
    3. LG

      October 17, 2008 at 10:40 am

      even we make it Raks. I always love it. That plate looks delicious.

      Reply
    4. Daily Meals

      October 17, 2008 at 12:58 pm

      Looks yummy...

      Reply
    5. Uma

      October 18, 2008 at 6:06 am

      what a yummy sambhar! love to have it with rice and some curd chilies. BTW, does keerai mean spinach?

      Reply
    6. n33ma

      October 18, 2008 at 2:32 pm

      Its looks nice.especially with that hot rice.

      Reply
    7. Jaishree

      October 18, 2008 at 3:46 pm

      Keerai sambar looks yummy...

      Reply
    8. RAKS KITCHEN

      October 19, 2008 at 10:16 am

      ,Yes Uma,Keerai mean Indian spinach!

      Reply
    9. Laavanya

      October 19, 2008 at 12:17 pm

      Ive not heard of keerai sambhar before.. nutritious and yummy.

      Reply
    10. raaji

      October 20, 2008 at 7:22 pm

      what is keerai raji....i dont have a clue what it is......

      Reply
    11. RAKS KITCHEN

      January 26, 2009 at 10:18 am

      Keerai is Indian spinach! 🙂

      Reply
    12. Suganya Devi

      August 08, 2012 at 1:08 am

      Keerai sambar looks good

      Reply
    13. Vijay Raghavan

      June 23, 2013 at 10:06 am

      spinach is murunga keerai

      Reply
    14. jong belegen kaas

      June 02, 2014 at 12:34 pm

      love ur recipe.Learn alot from you, wishing i know tamil or hindi words for certain ingredients.( I am chinese wife married to an indian boy),really want to learn how to cook indian food from simple and illustrative recipes from yours.Thanks for sharing. http://hellosweetdessert.wordpress.com/

      Reply
    15. Unknown

      August 04, 2014 at 5:18 am

      Spinach is siru keerai, amaranth. Murungai keerai is drumstick leaves

      Reply
    16. Dhivya Anand

      December 29, 2014 at 9:59 am

      Hi..I made this sambar yesterday and all my family members loved it...Usually we make dhaal palak with dhaal and palak combo but the tamarind and sambar powder and sequence of steps made this sambar so favorable... Thanks Raji...

      Reply
    17. Sharmila Sharma

      August 19, 2015 at 7:35 am

      Tomorrow I will try this recipe....... Looks yummy

      Reply
    18. anbarasan wildfire

      November 07, 2015 at 4:32 am

      Thanks good help for me...

      Reply
    19. Misba Ashiq

      December 02, 2015 at 12:19 am

      Can I use Chana daal instead of toor daal

      Reply
    20. Misba Ashiq

      December 02, 2015 at 12:19 am

      Can I use Chana daal instead of toor daal

      Reply
    21. Raks anand

      December 02, 2015 at 2:01 am

      It will change the taste. It will be seen and not blended. If you like that texture, you can try. But its called kootu

      Reply
    22. akshaya

      March 07, 2016 at 11:45 am

      may i know why u never added tomato for sambar??????

      Reply
    23. Raks anand

      March 07, 2016 at 11:48 am

      You can add if you want - sautee after onion and proceed

      Reply
    24. Nandy

      May 09, 2017 at 1:04 am

      Raks, this recipe is superb. Made this sambar with mulai keerai and it turned out yummy

      Reply
    25. Raks anand

      May 09, 2017 at 11:22 am

      Thank you 🙂

      Reply
    26. Karthik Natarajan

      June 28, 2018 at 1:10 am

      Nice recipe loved it

      Reply
    27. Unknown

      June 28, 2018 at 9:33 am

      Very nice

      Reply

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