Today I got fresh Gongura from my garden. It is my pleasure to go and pluck fresh leaves from the garden, straight to the kitchen…it just feels so close to home.

For the people not familiar with this leafy vegetable. Gongura/ Red Sorrel is a leafy vegetable and has very distinctive sour taste. For the past few years we were able to purchase it in Indian stores, here in US too. But from couple years i am proud to own gongura in my garden.  I even freeze it to use in winter.

When cooked with toor dal, channa dal or as pickle, it wakes up the taste buds and makes you crave its unique taste.

Gongura is called the Andhra matha and it is very famous in Guntur. When you talk about gongura to any Andhra people you can see that glow in their face, that’s the power of gongura.

Adding crushed garlic cloves enhances the flavor of any dal.

Coming to the recipe…

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of Gongura leaves separated from stem, washed and chopped
  1 cup of Chanaa dal
  Green chilies at least 6
  1 medium sized onion, cut into small pieces
  1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 2 Garlic pods
• 1 tsp each of mustard seeds and cumin.
• 3 Red dry chilies
• Pinch of Hing
• Few Curry leaves

Directions

1. In a pressure cooker wash channa dal, add gongura leaves, chilies, onion, salt and chili powder. Add water(1dal:3 water ratio ) and turn the stove on medium high. Let it whistle for 4 times.
2. Wait until the pressure is released, remove the lid.
3. If any water is left drain it into a separate bowl and mash dal with a masher or pappu gutti.
4. Heat a small tadka (talimpu) pan over low medium heat. Do the popu or tadka (means toasting the mustard, cumin seeds, garlic, red chili pieces and curry leaves in one tablespoon of ghee or oil).
5. Add this tadka to mashed gongura dal . Stir all of it once, cover with a lid and cook it for a minute. Turn the stove off and Gongura dal is ready.
6. Tastes great with rice or jowar roti. Best way of course is the combination of this dal mixed with rice, ghee, and papad.

White gonguraa goes very tall..it grows to almost 7 to 8 feet, while red gonguraa stays short and branches out wide.

Red Gongura-

White Gongura-

I don’t need to introduce Spinach or its health benefits to anyone. A so-called “super food” because it’s packed with nutrients, Spinach is a cinch to grow. Like other leafy greens, plant some in a shaded spot to keep harvests going into the summer months. Look at my gardening category for spinach plant.

It is so good for kids and I know many parents who complain that their kids don’t like to eat spinach. I don’t really know if I am lucky to have kids that don’t complain about eating vegetables. I truly believe that if we make tasty food they will definitely eat it.  This is one of the dish that kids love to eat just like that.

As a child I am a very picky eater…more than a picky eater I think I should say I don’t like to eat food…I literally use to cry when it’s time for lunch or dinner…even at those times I love to eat this spinach tomato curry without much fussing!!!!because if I don’t fuss atleast a little bit I think my mom will feed me more so after having 4 spoons of it I make sure I fuss little bit atleast. It is so funny to look back at ourselves when we are kids and I think it is worth to look back at ourselves so that we can respect and understand our kids more.

This is one of my dear mother recipe and it is so yummy!!!! Garlic is the one that makes this dish even more delicious. I love garlic in almost all my dishes and this is one in particular.

This is one of my 30 min meal category

Here is the recipe-

Ingredients

• 2 bunches Spinach/ 1pk of frozen Chopped Spinach
• 1 Big Tomato
• 1 small Onion
• Small Marble size of tamarind
• 1tsp each of mustard seeds and jeera
• 2 Dry Red Chili
• 3 Garlic cloves

Directions

1. Take a pressure cooker, add chopped spinach (fresh/Frozen), diced Tomato, diced onion, tamarind, little salt and chili powder.
2. Add ¼ cup of water and close the lid, let it whistle for 3 times.
3. Let the pressure cooker release all the pressure out, then open the cooker lid.
4. Mix it well, drain any excess water into a bowl. And with a hand masher, mash spinach and all of them together, now add the water back to spinach mix. Adjust the taste and let the curry boil till the curry gets thick without much water.
5. While the curry is boiling, heat a small pan with 1 tbsp oil/ghee. Add chopped garlic, dry red chili, mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal and channa dal, let them turn golden color. Add curry leaves and mix this thadka to the spinach gravy boiling in the cooker. Let them boil together and when you get the right consistency turn off the flame.

Note- You can cook this dish with out pressure cooker following the same steps as above, except you might need to add 1 cup of water to let all of them cook. unless, Pressure cooking preserves the nutrients and it helps to cook fast.

Enjoy this with rice and Ghee. Let me know your comments.