Keerai Mor Sambar (Yogurty Spinach Sauce)

Arachu vitta Keerai Mor Sambar (Yogurty Spinach Sauce with Freshly  Ground Spices)


Have I mentioned before that I get uncomfortable if I do not have a food experiment planned when I am in the kitchen? It was one such morning and I was so uneasy. I felt like I am wasting something – don’t know what though. Had a quick look at the contents of my refrigerator and was quite keen on finishing off any remaining vegetables so we could get a fresh stock during the weekend shopping. A bag of spinach was lying and was quite attractive with its green leaf. Easiest recipe with it is probably to just sauté it but what is special about that. Also, my husband had mentioned earlier that he would love to eat real south Indian meal for lunch on Sunday. He is not a fan of rasam but loves sambar especially with freshly ground spices. I was quite bored of making sambar and hence wanted to come up with a hybrid. That is how this recipe was created. You may recall reading a post on Mor Sambar, which you may have noticed is different from Mor Kuzhambu. You will notice that this recipe is Mor sambar as well but will taste very different from the earlier one. Here is how I did it, why don’t you try and see the difference yourself?

2 handful of spinach chopped (more if you like)

1 cup stirred yogurt

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Asafoetida

½ cup well cooked Tuvar dal (toor dal/pigeon peas)

2 teaspoons channa dal

4 teaspoons coriander seeds (dhania)

2-3 dry red chillies

Salt to taste

In a deep dish, put the spinach with just a dash of water and cook. Also add some asafoetida and turmeric powder

Once the spinach is almost done, add the yogurt and dilute with desired amount of water (this depends on how thick you prefer to have your sambar. You could add a bit now and dilute further towards the end). Also add the dal.

In the mean time, dry roast channa dal until golden brown. Roast coriander seeds until you get a nice aroma and seeds start to slightly pop. Roast the chillies until it looks crisp. Cool and grind all together to reasonably fine powder.

Once yogurt spinach mixture starts boiling, add about 2 table spoons of the ground powder, allow it to boil.

Add salt after you take it off the flame. To temper, add mustard seeds to some heated oil. I also added a broken red chilly. Add to the sambar.

You may have some spice powder left over, you can add this to usual sambar or vegetables.

I am sorry the photos are not great this time, hopefully will get better next time I make it.

Lentil Ragi Adai (lentil finger millet crepe)

Lentil Ragi Adai

In my attempt to keep rice intake low, I have been trying to have rice only for one meal a day and eat some other grains for another meal. Easy option usually is chapatti, that way I get some wheat but sometimes I would love a change and fancy things like dosa or upma or kichdi. I used to make adai quite often as well but that was the conventional adai and I wanted something different. This recipe was almost created from the air as I had no idea what I would end up with. I would say it was a bold attempt and a good one. I was pleased with the results. It is also quite nutritious as it has a variety of lentils, to give protein and iron and also ragi and some rice. Ragi as you probably know is a very nutritious grain. It does not have the most appealing colour but has a lot more goodness than most other grains. It constitutes the main source of nutrition for the poor in India. It is quite popular among South Indians, especially among those who are involved in heavy physical labour like farmers. With that background, here is how I made it…


Little less than ¼ cup urd dal
Little less than ¼ cup moong dal
Little more than ¼ cup channa dal
¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup ragi flour
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 green chillies
1 inch piece ginger
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Soak the dals together for about 3 hours

Grind them to a paste along with ginger, curry leaves and chillies. Keep the paste coarse.

Add the ragi and rice flour to the paste, add required salt and grind to more finer paste (do not make it too fine as it is not best for adai)

While grinding add enough water to maintain consistency slightly thicker than dosa batter

Heat a tava and pour a ladle full of batter and spread to make a crisp thin adai. Drizzle little oil over it. Once brown on one side, turn and cook other side for around a minute.

Serve with nice tangy chutney or aviyal.

I served (and ate) with tomato chutney and that complemented the adai well as the batter is not allowed to ferment thus lending some sour taste to the food. You could also sprinkle chopped onions just after you spread the batter.

Rice and Vegetable Cake

Rice and Vegetable Cake


I am usually not a fan of sneaking vegetables in my child’s plate. I would prefer that he is aware of what he is having and mostly, enjoys it. However I know that is ‘ideal’ and does not always happen with toddlers. Afterall, isn’t that one of the characteristics of toddlers? Here is a recipe which combines a grain, rice, and few vegetables. This way, even if your kid had skipped lunch, this snack can make up for some of the nutrients he did not get. If you have a very young toddler, as you are still trying to build the habit of breakfast, lunch, dinner, this could easily make a meal for your wee one. Here is how I did it...

1 small onion very finely chopped

1 small capsicum/green, yellow or red pepper finely chopped

1 carrot, boiled and grated

1 medium potato, boiled and mashed

2 tablespoons cooked rice

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon black pepper powder or chilly powder

1-2 tablespoons Rusk crushed or breadcrumbs or coarsely ground oats or gram flour.

Coriander leaves finely chopped

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

Please note that the above measurements were what I used to prepare this recipe for my young toddler. You may need to adjust quantity and spice levels depending on your child’s age and taste.

In a pan, add few drops of oil and add the onions.

Once they are half cooked, add the pepper and turmeric powder and then add the carrot. Cook for a few minutes.

Add the mashed potato and the spice powders and salt.

Mash the rice with your hand or potato masher.

Mix the vegetables, coriander leaves and mashed rice and shape them like cutlets of desired size.

Refrigerate these for about an hour so they can retain the shape

Coat both sides of the cakes in rusk or bread crumbs or oats or gram flour so they get a crispy outer. In a tava, add less than a teaspoon oil and fry the cakes. Cook until brown on one side, turn and brown the other side.

Serve with ketchup or any chutney

This is quite a nice food for toddlers who are learning to eat on their own as it is not too messy and they can hold it.