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Pui Saag (Malabar Spinach) with Masoor Dal/ Red Lentil

Servings: 2-3
Preparation time: 4 minutes.
Boiling time: 5 minutes.
Frying time: 14 minutes.
Total time: 23 minutes.

In Japan pui saag (Malabar spinach) is called ‘Tsuru-murasaki’ one of the popular greens at the supermarket rack and in frozen area too, Japanese used to eat as salad, soup, tempura…

Memories are priceless gift lasts for lifetime; we used to grow pui/poi saag (Malabar spinach) in our balcony pot at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan and in our kitchen garden in Kudankulam near Kanyakumari; it grows abundantly in tropical region.

I would like to share the awesome, authentic and mouth watering recipe of ‘Pui Saag (Malabar Spinach) with Masoor Dal/ Red Lentil’; which my mother and grandmother used to cooked in their kitchen. In Bihar it is customary to put hot Ghee in dal bowl.

Wikipedia shows that it is low in cholesterol, good source of protein, vitamin ‘A’,’B’ and ‘B6’, good source of dietary fiber and counted having better nutritional value than spinach .

Ingredients:

Pui/poi Saag (Malabar Spinach): 100-150 gm
Masoor Dal/ Red Lentil: 100 gm.
Green chilli: 1-2 no.
Onion: 1 no. (Medium)
Tomato: 1 no.
Garlic: 3-4 flakes
Ginger: 2” piece
Mustard oil: 2 tablespoon
Ghee: 2 tablespoon
Mustard seed: 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf: 2 no.
Red chilli: 1 no.
Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Lemon: ½ no. (Optional)

Preparation:

Chop tomato, keep aside.
Do fine chopping of Pui leaves and soft stem (discard hard stem) as well as onion, ginger, green chilli and garlic. Keep aside.

Method:

Boil dal with salt and turmeric powder in the pressure cooker on high flame; bring to full cooking pressure, put off the flame allow cooker to cool and open, keep aside.
Take fry pan, put oil and heat on medium flame, when smokes add mustard seeds, bay leaf and red chilli wait till it sputters. Add garlic, stir fry for few seconds; add onion and green chilli (keep it stirring otherwise it may burn). Fry on medium flame till onion become translucent (couple of minute).
Add chopped tomato; stir fry couple of minutes; add chopped pui saag; after 3-4 minutes it will change the colour and starts shrinking; add boiled dal; let it boil for couple of minutes.
Put off the flame and add ghee; ‘Pui Saag (Malabar Spinach) with Masoor Dal/ Red Lentil (Bihari Style)’ is ready. Transfer into serving bowl, it may be served with any type of meal.