It’s time to go green!

Wondering what to do with your green leafy vegetables? Here are a few easy recipes...

Green leafy vegetables are rich in minerals, vitamins, fibre and other trace elements, with a high chlorophyll content. It is desirable to include at least one green leafy vegetable in your daily menu to meet the body’s essential nutritional requirements. For instance, radish tops are equally rich in nutrients and worth using along with radish. Even tender coriander stalks enrich chutneys and gravies. Greens blend very well with pulses and certain veggies, and lend themselves well to delectable curries. Rama Gokul offers a few recipes:

Palak & moong curry

Ingredients: Palak leaves 4 cups chopped, green gram ½ cup, green gram dal 1 cup, salt & lime juice to taste, milk ¼ cup, ghee 1 tsp, urad & gram dal 1 tsp each, pepper ½ tsp, jeera ½ tsp, a few curry leaves, a pinch of asafoetida, grated coconut 2 tbsp, a pinch of turmeric.

Method: Pressure cook the dal till tender. Mash well. Cook the greens with salt till soft. In a pan, heat ghee. Fry the masala ingredients till they turn light brown and grind to a paste. Mix the paste with the dal and ground mixture and bring to boil. Add milk and stir well. Then add lime juice just before serving. Serve hot with rice/rotis.

Note: Green gram sprouts can be used instead of just green gram dal for a healthier curry.

Palak & moong curry

Methi peas curry

Ingredients: Methi/fenugreek leaves 3 cups chopped, green peas 1½ cups, potato cubes ½ cup boiled, salt & tamarind juice to taste, jaggery powder 1 tsp, grated coconut 3 tbsp, mustard seeds ½ tsp, red chillies 2-3 pieces, a few curry leaves, a pinch of asafoetida, turmeric powder 1/8 tsp, oil 1 tsp, mustard seeds ½ tsp.

Method: Cook the methi leaves in salted water. Add peas, potato & tamarind water. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add jaggery along with the ground paste and simmer for 2-3 minutes, till well-blended. Season with a standard tadka and serve with rice/rotis.

Drumstick leaves curry

Ingredients: Drumstick leaves chopped 2 cups, salt to taste, curd 2 tbsp, mixed vegetables chopped (potato, beans, carrot, drumstick, cabbage, cauliflower) 2 cups, grated coconut 2 tbsp, 2 green chillies, a few curry leaves and coriander leaves, a pinch of asafoetida, oil 2 tsp, 1 tsp ghee, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2-3 red chillies.

Method: Cook all the vegetables & green leaves with salt till tender. Add the ground paste and bring to boil. Stir in the curd and boil for a minute more. Season with a standard tadka and serve hot with rice/rotis.

Amaranthus leaves curry

Ingredients: Amaranthus leaves 4 cups chopped, horse gram ¼ cup, cowpeas ¼ cup, salt to taste, oil 2 tsp. Grind all these ingredients to a paste. Grated coconut 2 tbsp, a small piece of tamarind, 1 tbsp dhania, red chillies 2-3, a pinch of asafoetida, oil 2 tsp, ½ tsp mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, ½ tsp urad dal.

Method: Soak the horse gram & cowpeas for 3-4 minutes. Pressure cook till tender. Cook the greens with salt until tender. In a pan, heat oil. Fry the ingredients to be made into a paste to a light brown, and then grind to a fine paste for the gravy. Add to the cooked mixture & simmer for 3-4 minutes, till well-blended. Season with mustard seeds and urad dal.Serve hot with rice/rotis.