South Indian
Paruppu Keerai (Toor Dal with Mashed Greens)
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Paruppu Keerai (Toor Dal with Mashed Greens) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre, the protein alongside, and the cooked vegetable. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Rinse the toor dal and pressure cook it with 2 cups of the water, the turmeric and a few drops of oil for 3 to 4 whistles until soft, then mash it well.
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Wash the greens in a big bowl of water, lifting them out so the sand stays behind, and chop them with their tender stems.
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In a pot, cook the greens with the halved shallots, garlic, chopped tomato, slit green chilies and the remaining 1/2 cup water for 5 to 6 minutes until the greens wilt and the shallots soften. Leave the lid off, or the greens lose their colour.
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Add the mashed dal and the salt, simmer 5 minutes, and mash everything together lightly with a wooden masher or the back of a ladle.
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Heat the oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chilies, curry leaves and asafoetida, and when the mustard pops pour the tempering over the dal.
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Mix it into hot rice with a spoon of ghee, which is how many Tamil children first learn to like greens.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Paruppu Keerai (Toor Dal with Mashed Greens), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Paruppu Keerai (Toor Dal with Mashed Greens) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish |
|---|---|
| Peanuts | No |
| Tree nuts | No |
| Dairy | No |
| Gluten | No |
| Shellfish | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Soy | No |
| Fish | No |
| Sesame | No |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 31 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 5 g
- Sugar
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 480 mg
- Saturated fat
- 1 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
When to cook it
Paruppu Keerai (Toor Dal with Mashed Greens) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
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Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.