Keerai Masiyal ~ South Indian Style Spinach Mash

A simple and easy to make keerai masiyal and some rice and yogurt is the best of the comfort food there is!

Keerai masiyal is a classic TamBrahm dish. This dish has created so many wonderful memories for me right from my childhood. The best of all is when I started working and rented a house on my own (well, with two roommates) for the first time. We had a tiny kitchen with a gas stove, a refrigerator,which were luxuries back then, when you did not really live with your family. My friend R and I would take turns making dinner, depending on who got home earlier from work. We both had our go to dishes. R’s was an egg curry and mine was this masiyal and a vathal kozhambu also, sometimes.

Whether it was the egg curry or the masiyal, all we needed was some rice, yogurt and R’s mom’s sweet lime pickle and our dinner was a heavenly affair Add to that some re-runs of FRIENDS on the laptop as well. Ah, those were the days!

I use a blender to puree the spinach. Traditionally a kitchen device called “thayir mathu”, which is primarily used to break yogurt to loosen it or to churn it into buttermilk to get butter out of it, is used to mash the cooked spinach. It doesn’t make a fine puree as this but I believe it tastes a lot better

Keerai Masiyal – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch organic spinach
• Water, enough to cover the spinach
• 1 cup ice cubes
• Salt , to taste
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 3 dried red chillies
• 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp asafetida ( for gluten free version – skip / or check label for ingredients as some brands contain some all purpose flour / maida )

Method:

Chop the spinach roughly. Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the spinach to the boiling water. Let it cook for 2 mins, not more. Keep the ice mixed with some more cold water ready in a bowl nearby. Take the spinach out of the saucepan with a pair of tongs and dunk in the ice cold water.

Now blend the spinach to a fine puree in a blender or a food processor.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the dried red chilies and the asafetida. Add the pureed spinach and salt. Mix well. Let it stay on medium heat for a few minutes and remove from heat.

Enjoy the spinach mash with some rice and yogurt, as a dip or even as is

Variation: You can add some garlic to it to make a garlic spinach mash!

Keerai Masiyal ~ South Indian Style Spinach Mash

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 2 -4

Author: Manju | Cooking Curries

A simple and easy to make keerai masiyal and some rice and yogurt is the best of the comfort food there is!

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Ingredients

• 1 bunch organic spinach
• Water , enough to cover the spinach
• 1 cup ice cubes
• Salt , to taste
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 3 dried red chillies
• 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp asafetida ( for gluten free version - skip / or check label for ingredients as some brands contain some all purpose flour / maida )

Instructions

1. Chop the spinach roughly. Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the spinach to the boiling water. Let it cook for 2 mins, not more. Keep the ice mixed with some more cold water ready in a bowl nearby. Take the spinach out of the saucepan with a pair of tongs and dunk in the ice cold water.
2. Now blend the spinach to a fine puree in a blender or a food processor.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the dried red chilies and the asafetida. Add the pureed spinach and salt. Mix well. Let it stay on medium heat for a few minutes and remove from heat.
4. Enjoy the spinach mash with some rice and yogurt, as a dip or even as is Smile

Recipe Notes

Variation: You can add some garlic to it to make a garlic spinach mash!