Beetroot Keerai paruppu kadaisal / Beetroot greens with mashed dal

When i was small i always like to work with beetroot due to its vibrant color. The way i eat beetroot recipes outside is completely different from how my mom makes beetroot poriyal. She cooks it till soft and season it with pepper powder, such a divine taste of the sweetness of beetroot blended with the hot hot pepper makes it so nice to eat. But other than that, my mom doesn't make any dish with beetroot.

I came to know about this recipe, when i start wondering why are they selling beetroots with their greens in Australian markets when we are just going to throw away the greens as i was not aware of the health benefits of the same that time. It was during that period, i understood that beetroot greens are edible and can be cooked in the same way as other green varieties.

Health benefits of beet greens: http://foodfacts.mercola.com/beet-greens.html

Since then, whenever i see fresh beetroot greens, i immediately grab them . Nowadays am making sure i prepare this recipe once in every fortnight. I feed this one to my kids with hot steamy rice and a spoon of ghee...wow, what a yummy taste ....!!!!!

Instructions:

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 7 mins

Ingredients needed:

1 bunch of beetroot greens
Toor dal + moong dal - 1/4 cup
Green chilly - 1 (adjust as per taste)
Garlic pods - 3
Salt

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Leave the hardest part of the greens and chop the remaining ones.

2. In a saucepan, add the chopped greens, slit green chilly and garlic pods. Add very little water till 1/4th level of the contents of the saucepan and cook it.

3. In about 5 mins the greens would be cooked. 

4. Remove it from the stove and allow it to cool.

5. Meanwhile, pressure cook the dal till soft and mash it till mushy.

6. Once the cooked greens is cooled down,mash the greens nicely with a masher. Do not blend or grind it with mixie.

7. Now add the dal and mix both well and add required salt. At this stage if the consistency is fine such that its neither too thick nor too watery, then no need to cook it again. If its too thick, add little water to adjust and if its too watery, cook for some more time till the consistency is fine.

8. Now season the kadaisal with mustard seeds, urad dal and hing.

Mix it nicely and serve it hot with steamy rice and some ghee.

Some do's and dont's when cooking greens:

1. Do not pressure cook the greens as the vital things in the greens are lost when it is pressure cooked.

2. Moong dal alone goes very well with greens and its healthy too.But Toor dal can also be used when moong dal is not available or a combination of both.

3. Always mash the greens with a hand masher and never grind it or blend it with a mixie. Greens are best enjoyed when they are coarse and not a fine and smooth paste and the iron content of the greens are intact when they are hand mashed.

4. Do not cook the greens with lot of water and later discard it as the cooked water is really healthy. Its enough to cook it with very less water and completely utilize the water without throwing it.

5. Though i am not sure on this point, i stopped cooking greens with tomatoes as i heard its not good to cook them together.