This is my moms Keerai recipe and has just 5 ingredients. Its the easiest to do and the most tastiest. The onions give the Keerai a nice richness.  My mom used to make this almost twice or even thrice every week when we were young. Arakeerai, Siru Keerai or even Palak works well for this recipe. Keerai, rice and a dollop of ghee will make your everyday lunch special. My son loves it too. We call it as Kadaintha Keerai / Kadanja Keerai in Coimbatore.
Clean the greens and remove the hard stems. If you are using palak, you can use the stems too. Â Soak the greens in lots of water for 15 minutes to get rid off the sand, dirt and pesticide residue if any. Then wash it well changing the water twice. Remove the greens from the water and set aside.
We will be using 3 onions and 10 cloves of garlic for this recipe . Believe me, its not a lot of garlic and onions. Onions and garlic combined with spinach gives the dish amazing taste. It also makes the dish so smooth and rich. Heat oil in the pan and add in the onions, garlic, green chillies and the salt. Fry till the onions are soft and starting to brown. About 4-5 minutes on medium flame. Add in the washed and cleaned greens and fry on low flame for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it to cool.
Grind the mixture in a mixie / blender without adding any water to a fine paste.
Serve hot with steaming rice and ghee.
Kadaintha Keerai Mashed Greens Recipe
Recipe for Keerai Kadayal / Masiyal. Easy with 5 ingredients only. My moms Coimbatore style mashed spinach recipe.
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon sesame (gingely) oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Green Chillies
- 10 Cloves Garlic
- 3 Onions, roughly chopped
- 250 grams Keerai, Spinach
Instructions
- Clean the greens and remove the hard stems. Soak the greens in lots of water for 15 minutes to get rid off the sand, dirt and pesticide residue if any. Then wash it well changing the water twice. Remove the greens from the water and set aside.
- Heat oil in the pan and add in the onions, garlic, green Chillies and the salt. Fry till the onions are soft and starting to brown. About 4-5 minutes on medium flame. Add in the washed and cleaned greens and fry on low flame for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it to cool.
- Grind the mixture in a mixie / blender without adding any water to a fine paste.
- Serve hot with steaming rice and ghee.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Hi mam, can we use manathakali keerai for this recipe?
Manathakkali will be good for making poriyal or you can add it to dal. Grinding the keerai makes it very bitter.
Account for salt guys
I made this for my mother and she loved it. I added half a tsp of cumin.
How do we know if the spinach has cooked adequately
Spinach really cooks in no time. All it needs is to just wilt.
One small doubt ,is it small onion or big onion?
Its big onions.
Can we use Matthu (wooden )for grinding pa
sure you can/.
Can we use Matthu for grinding pa
Wow.. it tasted super yummy and my baby loved it a lot.. thank you for this wonderful recipe
Even my mom used to cook the same in my childhood …… It’s a great dish with rice ….. Never ever try this with Vendhaya keerai I had horrible experience cooking with that ….. It was so bitter
I tried the kerai masiyal with only 5 ingredients and it tasted Yummy! For the first time my 2 year old son kept asking for more rice. This is definitely going to be my frequent dish
Thank you!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Tried it tonight and it’s a winner. Do you know if this will taste good with collard greens instead of spinach? Thanks
Thanks Vidya. I have never tried with collard greens. I am not sure about the taste.
This was so simple and surprisingly delicious. I have been looking for ways to cook and eat green leafy vegetables and this is a winner ! It was so creamy and delicious. I am blown away by what a combination of humble onion, garlic and chilli can do. : ) Thank you.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed!
I am going to try this tomorrow but please confirm no tadka is needed?
Yes. No tadka req.
One of the easiest and tastiest way to eat greens… I have nearly 5-6 times.. my fast go to recipe is this… Just this masiyal and egg curry and lunch s done !!! .. as my husband s from Coimbatore he really loved this type !!!
Thank you so much.
Can I use Thandu Keerai for this recipe?
thandu Keerai might become too fibrous. In make only poriyal. If it’s tender then will work.
This is one staple dish with which I grew up. My grandmother uses a clay pot and ladle to mash it up and the coconut oil tempering adds to the taste. Love this ?
Thank you Arulmozhi!
I think one key ingredient that I found over years which makes this so much different is to use coconut oil instead of the regular oil.
I tried with mulai keerai, kalavai keerais it worked nicely. Really mouth watering recipe which is healthy too. Nowadays interesting to cook greens very often because of this recipe mam. Thank you so much mam
Thank you
Hey Suguna, a simple recipe but awesome taste. My nine year old loved it with plain rice and ghee. we relished it!
Thank you Sindhu.
Tasted yum!
Thanks Sharon.
Tried this for lunch. Absolutely delicious and humble. Even my 2 year old ate well.
I always travel back to fond memories when i read your recipes since i belong to CBE as well and could very much relate to our food style.
Thanks and keep writing!
Thank you so much Priya!
Suguna, this blew our minds. This recipe is very deceptively simple, but I sensed there was a winner here.
Made it today and I can’t tell you how fabulous it was! You know what, I added extra chillies and now plan to use the left over as chutney with my dinner sandwiches.
The garlic and sesame oil did the magic… Thanks!
Thank You Meera.
*****(Five Star Rated )
Thank you Kavitha. glad you gave it 5 stars….