Kadanja Keerai or mashed spinach

 Kadanja keerai / Keerai masiyal / Mashed spinach in Indian style. This is one of my favorite versions of spinach which I used to enjoy growing up. My amma used to make this type of spinach almost on every other day along with fish curry. She used to buy arai keerai for preparing this dish. But I have used flat leaf spinach we usually get from any American grocery store. (Malabar spinach or Indian spinach is not suitable for this recipe)   

Ingredients:

Arai keerai / US Spinach - 1 bunch

Shallot - 1

Green chili - 2

Garlic - 2 cloves

Water - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Remove big stems off the spinach if any.

If using arai keerai, then use leaves and tender stems only. Discard the peelable matured stems.

Rinse the spinach well (see video). Remove water completely.

Heat 1/4 cup water in a cooking vessel.

Add peeled shallot, garlic, green chili. Boil for 5 mins.

Add spinach to the boiling ingredients. Cook uncovered for 5 mins. Stir after 3 mins and cook completely.

Switch off. Add salt, cumin.

Mash to a coarse semi thick gravy. In the video I have shown 'how to use kitchenaid blender' to mash spinach. We can use a 'kal chatty' an earthern vessel studded with coarse stones to mash this too (that is the authentic way).

Mashed spinach is ready !

Serving Suggestion:

Serve as side dish or as curry over rice.

Makes a healthy food for kids and adults.

1 lb spinach may be good enough for a 4 member family.

1/2 lb (1/4 kg) spinach / keerai would be more than enough for 2 adults.

Kitchenaid hand blender and Keerai masiyal

"And sometimes we all say a million reasons why we cook an elegant meal....for the love of someone, for the kid, for charity, for a party , for testing a new gadget etc, but the real reason is we all  love cooking , cooking excites us, it cools the hunger and, in simple words....cooking makes us feel like an artist"

This is another comfort food from the basic Indian cooking. The greens are indispensable in a well balanced Indian menu and much praised for the health benefits.
Generally the arai keerai and siru keerai (smaller leaved amaranth) are good for this blending recipe. I have used spinach here.  

In this recipe I have used the kitchenaid hand blender to mash the 'hot spinach'. In Chennai I used to blend the keerai, using a small rough clay vessel and a wooden pestle ( In Tamil - keerai kadaiyum mann pathiramum , mathum). That traditional clay vessel imparts an earthen flavor to the simple keerai masiyal.
Nowadays Indian mixie is used to prepare this masiyal , palak paneer, pavbhaji masala, soups, dals and all those dishes that needed a good mashing. But the drawback is, everything we put in mixie should be cooled to room temperature to avoid them gushing out while grinding. So we have to wait till its cool. Then we have to heat it once again before serving. This multi heating and long hours of wait can be thwarted by using a hand blender.

A hand blender is handier than an ordinary mixie, as we can blend the hot contents right out of the stove and we can serve immediately without reheating. That's the best feature I like about hand blenders. 
I prepare keerai masiyal on almost all weekends along with fish curry or sambar rice and I palak panneer once a week. So this is one of my favorite gadgets.

I bought this some 2 years back from Kohl's in the Kitchenaid section. Since then I have been using it almost twice or thrice a week. I would say this is sturdy, pretty and useful.

 I am an avid fan of Kitchenaid equipments. Just like the old fashioned stand mixer (which I absolutely love), this blender is gorgeous and an useful tool for all who love to cook. 
Kitchenaid hand blender has been an all time  favorite among chefs and homecooks. Mostly it is used to prepare soups, mashed potatoes, mixing hot stuffs in the western world. Just like that the Indian kitchens also need a hand blender nowadays for those busy hands.

Hope you all fall in love with this pretty hand blender !

Vanjiram meen kulambu (king fish curry),  fish fry , rice, mango, spinach 

Keerai masiyal with rice, fish curry and fish fry

Using Kitchenaid hand blender for mashing pav bhaji masala.

Controlled mashing is a good feature of hand blenders.

Ingredients:
Spinach- 1 bunch (300 gm approx)
water - 1/4 cup
shallot - 2
green chilly - 2
garlic - 4 pearls
cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste (very little only)
Lime (sunnambu) - a very small pinch (optional)

Method:
While as a bunch, trim off the hard stem side and take the spinach leaves. Rinse thrice or more times and clean the leaves well.
Take a narrow wok and bring to boil 1/4 cup water. Remove the skin of shallot and garlic. Add them to the boiling water along with the chillies, cook till they get soft. Add the spinach and cook them without closing the lid. 
After a few minutes, gently turn the whole lot and cook the other side too.
Check the stems if they are cooked. Wait till all the moisture is gone and put off fire.
Add cumin, salt and blend in a mixer to a coarse paste using a hand blender.
(Just two or three pulse is enough).

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with rice or as a curry over rice.
We generally prepare this masiyal along with fish curry and rice.

Note:
In my native place , they add a pinch of lime (calcium oxide , that we use along with pan leaves)while blending to get more nutrition. Its purely optional here.
No tadka / tempering is necessary.

Some folklore from my native place (arai keerai / small amaranth):
This masiyal can be prepared with black pepper instead of green chillies and consumed daily to reduce the obesity. 

Example of recipes that can be prepared quickly using a hand blender  in Indian cuisine:

Mashed dal, Soups, Pavbhaji masala, Kheers, Palak paneer, mashed spinach, mixing hot stuffs for samosa,  baby foods, pureeing etc.

Keerai masiyal

"A favorite dish, where the greens are steamed, and mashed, with light seasoning of salt, red chillis and cumin. It is called keerai masial (கீரை மசியல்)." - Wikipedia

This is another comfort food from the basic Indian cooking. The greens are indispensable in a well balanced Indian menu and much praised for the health benefits.

In Chennai I used to blend the keerai, using a small rough clay vessel and a wooden pestle ( In Tamil - keerai kadaiyum mann pathiramum , mathum). That traditional clay vessel imparts an earthen flavor to the simple keerai and would lift up our spirits:)

Generally the arai keerai and siru keerai (smaller leaved amaranth) are good for this blending recipe.As I could not find them here, I have used the amaranth (thandan keerai). This recipe calls for total simplicity , so we can't see any tomato, turmeric or oil. Adding oil, tomato or tamarind also holds good, but this one is my most favorite recipe. In my native place we used to add a pinch of lime (calcium oxide / sunnambu , additive to pan leaves) along with this masiyal. I don't know the correct purpose of it. But they say the 'sunnambu' helps in absorption of some vitamins in the greens. That's totally optional.

Ingredients:
Greens (spinach / amaranth) - 1 lb (4 handful)
water - 1/4 cup
shallot - 4
green chilly - 2
garlic - 4 pearls
cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste (very little only)
Lime (sunnambu) - a very small pinch (optional)

Method:
Pluck the leaves and young stems only. Discard the hard stems or reserve them for making sambar. Wash and clean the leaves well.

Take a wok and bring to boil 1/4 cup water. Remove the skin of shallot and garlic. Add them to the boiling water along with the chillies. After a minute (the onion and garlic should be half cooked), add the cleaned greens and cook them without closing the lid. Some people believe that cooking the greens with lids will spoil the nutrients.

After a few minutes, gently turn the whole lot and cook the other side too.

Check the stems if they are cooked. Wait till all the moisture is gone and put off fire.

Let it cool completely. Now add cumin, salt and blend in a mixer to a coarse paste.
(Just two or three pulse is enough).

If you want an authentic flavor try to use an earthenware to blend the greens.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with rice or as a curry over rice.
We generally prepare this masiyal along with fish curry and rice.

Note:
In my native place , they add a pinch of lime (calcium oxide , that we use along with pan leaves)while blending to get some medicinal value out of it. Its purely optional here.
No tadka / tempering is necessary.

Some folklore from my native place (arai keerai / small amaranth):
This masiyal can be prepared with black pepper instead of green chillies and consumed daily to reduce the obesity.
This masiyal without any tadka helps people to regain strength after some disease and also as a natural bowel healer.