Spinach Stems Stir-fry

Stir-Fried Spinach Stems

As we all knew, spinach is packed with lots of nutrients and vitamins. Whenever I get fresh spinach from the market, I remove the stems and use the leaves to make dal. But I don’t throw those stems away as I don’t want to waste the nutrients. I use them to make a stir-fry or sometimes chutney. Of course sometimes I just add these stems to the dal along with the leaves. I must say the stir-fry tasted so delicious. 

Recipe goes like this:

Ingredients: Chopped Spinach Stems 2 cups of Spinach Stems A fistful of Split Moong Dal (Pesara Pappu, Yellow Lentils) A pinch of Turmeric ½ tsp Chili Powder Salt For Seasoning: ½ tsp Mustard Seeds ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds ¼ tsp Bengal Gram (Pachi Senaga Pappu, Chana Dal) ¼ tsp Black Gram (Minappappu, Urad Dal) 1 dry red Chili Some Curry Leaves 1 tsp Oil Preparation: Wash and soak split moong dal for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and chop spinach stems into small pieces. It worked better when snipped with a scissors. In a non-stick pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When these pop, add cumin seeds along with the red chili (broken into two pieces) + Bengal Gram + Black Gram + curry leaves and fry well until the dals turn golden brown in color. Then add the chopped spinach stems and stir well. Sprinkle some water, mix and leave the pan on a low flame for some time until the stems appear cooked and lose the raw taste. Add turmeric during half way of cooking and mix well. When the stems appear cooked, add the soaked moong dal and mix well. Sprinkle some more water if needed. Adjust salt. Leave it again for a little while, but keep stirring frequently. Turn off the flame after the curry becomes dry and all the water is absorbed. Check if it is cooked and transfer into a serving bowl. Enjoy this healthy curry with hot rice.  You’ll immediately say, “YUMMY”.