Swiss Chard Lentil Gravy / Swiss Chard Keerai Masiyal

Swiss Chard & Lentil Gravy / Swiss Chard Keerai Masiyal – A healthy and delicious South Indian side dish that pairs well with steamed rice. Swiss chard is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. When cooked along with lentils, it becomes a wholesome meal. This keerai masiyal is made by sautéing the finely chopped swiss chard leaves with tomato, spices and is cooked along with lentils in a tamarind based gravy.

Ingredients:

Swiss chard (finely chopped)	1 cup
Toor dhal	1/4 cup
Moong dhal	1/4 cup
Tamarind	small gooseberry size
Tomato	1/2
Mustard seeds	1 teaspoon
Urad dhal	1 teaspoon
Methi seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilli	2
Red chilli	1
Ginger	small piece
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Hing / Asafoetida	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Oil	1 tablespoon

Instructions:

Soak the tamarind in warm water. Extract about 1 cup of tamarind juice from this.
In a pressure pan, add 1/4 th cup toor dhal, 1/4 th moong dhal and 1/4 th teaspoon turmeric powder. Add enough warm water and pressure cook this for 3 whistles. The lentils should be soft and well cooked. Mash the dhal using a ladle and add water if it is too thick. Keep this aside.
Wash the swiss chard thoroughly. Discard the hard red stem. Include the tender part of the stem (optional). Finely chop the leaves and the tender part of the stem. Finely chop the tomato, ginger and slit the green chillies.
Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil is warm enough, add mustard seeds. Allow the mustard seeds to crackle, add urad dhal and sauté for few seconds in low flame. When the urad dhal starts changing colour, add the slit green chillies, chopped ginger and red chilli . Sauté for few seconds until the urad dhal turns golden brown.
Now add the finely chopped swiss chard and stir every now and then. Sauté this until the leaves shrink in size.

Now add the chopped tomato and cook in low flame until the tomatoes become soft and mushy.
Add turmeric powder and hing. Give a quick stir. Add the tamarind extract and salt. Allow it to boil until the raw smell of tamarind goes away.
Add the mashed and diluted dhal to the above gravy. Mix well. If the gravy is too thick, then add little water. If it is too thin, add rice flour paste to this (1 to 2 teaspoon of rice flour dissolved in little bit of water). Cook until the gravy thickens.

Serve this swiss chard masiyal with steamed rice.

Notes:

The size of tamarind I have taken is just goose berry size and not lemon size. Adjust the sourness of the dish according to your taste.
For variation – Use 1/2 cup moong dhal instead of a combination of toor dhal and moong dhal.
For variation -Use spinach leaves instead of swiss chard.

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