Recipe for Mulai Keerai Poriyal – முளைக்கீரை. Green amaranth leaves stir fry recipe. Recipe with step by step pictures.
Mulai Keerai is a type of slender amaranth leaves that’s used in lentils, mash and stir-fry. Today I made a basic Tamil style poriyal / stir-fry using Mulai Keerai. The same recipe can be made using any kind of greens and it works really well. Here is how to do a basic stir-fry.
The first thing about greens is to clean them and wash them. Pick the leaves from the keerai and set aside. If the stems are very tender, it can also be used to make the stir fry. Usually the soft stems are used and slightly firm ones are discarded as it can be a little fibrous. But if you are ok with using the stem, go ahead.
Here is the picture of cleaned greens. I have added the soft stems too! The top stems that are attached with the leaves are usually tender and the bottom part is little hard. So use the top stems and discard the stems at the bottom.
Clean and wash the greens. Washing the greens to get rid of sand and dust is very essential. Here is a video of how to clean greens.
Note: After washing the greens, set aside on a colander to drain for 5 minutes. Its important to get rid of the excess water so the greens stay crisp while cooking.
After washing the greens, chop them roughly. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chillies. Roughly break the chillies into half inch pieces and then add it to the pan.
Let the mustard seeds crackle.
Add in the finely chopped onions. Add a generous amount of onions. Onions add a very nice flavour to greens. Whether you are making a mash or a stir-fry, adding a lot of onions makes it so tasty.
Sauté the onions till its soft and lite brown in colour.
Add in the chopped greens.
Sauté for a couple of minutes.
The greens will wilt and become soft. Do not cook for a long time.
Add in the salt and mix well to combine. Always add salt after the greens have cooked. Adding salt in the beginning will make the stir-fry very soggy.
Add in the fresh grated coconut. Fresh grated coconut is preferred for this recipe. Avoid using desiccated coconut. Frozen shredded coconut is fine. Just thaw the coconut and then add to the pan. Cook for a minute.
Fantastic Mulai Keerai Porial / Stir-Fry is ready. Serve with rice.
Mulai Keerai Poriyal – Amaranth stir fry
Recipe for Mulai Keerai Poriyal – முளைக்கீரை. Green amaranth leaves stir fry recipe. Recipe with step by step pictures.
- Total Time: 25m
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
2 teaspoon Indian sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup fresh shredded coconut
250 grams Mulai Keerai – Greens
Instructions
Clean and wash the greens. After washing the greens, chop them roughly. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chillies. Roughly break the chillies into half inch pieces and then add it to the pan. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
Add in the finely chopped onions. Sauté the onions till its soft and lite brown in colour. Add in the chopped greens. Sauté for a couple of minutes. The greens will wilt and become soft. Do not cook for a long time.
Add in the salt and mix well to combine. Add in the fresh grated coconut. Cook for a minute.
Fantastic Mulai Keerai Porial / Stir-Fry is ready. Serve with rice.
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 10m