Palak Keerai Masiyal Recipe | Spinach Recipe

Vegan Palak Keerai Masiyal Recipe

A must have everyday, it can be done to such perfection using just the traditional recipe, without oil.

Whole Food Plant Based Palak Keerai Masiyal Recipe

Course: Course 2 (Vegetable Dish) for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 People

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch OR 2 cups Palak / Spinach Greens
1 Green Chili
1 cm piece Ginger
4 cloves Garlic
1 Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 tsp Jeera / Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
2 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
1 pinch Asafoetida / Perunkaayam / Hing
2 tsp Cashews

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash the spinach well and chop finely. Peel and chop onion finely. Chop tomatoes finely. Slit green chili along its length. Peel and chop ginger finely.
2. Cooked chopped palak with 1/4 cup water, along with chopped onions, tomatoes, chili, and ginger.
3. While the palak and other vegetables are cooking, peel and crush or grind garlic to a paste. Keep aside for ten minutes. Once the garlic has sat for ten minutes, mix into the boiling vegetables and cook until done.
4. Once cooked, remove from stove. Mash well with a wooden or metal masher.
5. Mix in jeera powder, black pepper powder, miso paste, asafoetida / perunkaayam / hing, and cashews.

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Palak Keerai Masiyal Recipe

1. Most of the flavour in this dish comes from the vegetables. For the palak / spinach flavour to stand, this dish is best served before any spice-heavy dishes during the meal.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Palak Keerai Masiyal Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why crush garlic and wait? When garlic is chopped, crushed, ground or bitten into, two chemicals stored in different parts of garlic's cells combine in a chemical reaction to form allicin. This is a slightly bitter compound that deters insects, but happens to be very beneficial to our health. Allicin helps reduce blood pressure and protect the heart and other organs, fight off lung infections, and reduce inflammation. Unfortunately, cooking destroys one of the enzymes required to form allicin. This can be overcome by crushing garlic and keeping it aside for ten minutes while the chemical reaction takes place. Once allicin is formed, it is heat stable and can be safely cooked. Alternatively, some raw garlic can be added after cooking, to a dish that has cooked garlic in it.
3. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!