Cheera Morucurry

After breaking my heads this is the third recipe I got for the "no-tomato gravy" theme. This gravy is rarely made at home because with spinach we prefer thoran (side dish) or a gravy with dal and coconut. I have made Cheera morcurry very rarely.

I try to include some form of spinach twice a week in my menu. Cheera morucurry is another fabulous accompaniment for rice. Though I loved it with rotis to. This curry can be made with any type of spinach, I made with red spinach (chuvanna cheera) that is available in plenty especially in the summer season. 

Red spinach (Amaranthus dubius) has a lot of health benefits. Its known to aid digestion, its used for treating anemia and some kidney problems, its used for good vision and strong hair and so on. So if you come across this species of spinach immediately grab a bunch and make this curry at home.

Ingredients:

Red Spinach - 1 bunch

Thick yogurt - 1/2 cup

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

green chillies - 2 nos

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

garlic cloves - 2

Salt - to taste

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

mustard - 1 tsp

Red chilly - 1 no

shallots - 2 nos

Method:

• Wash the spinach and finely chop them. You can include the stem also.
• In a kadai add enough water and cook the spinach with salt and turmeric powder.
• Grind the coconut, green chillies, garlic cloves and cumin seeds.
• Once the spinach is cooked, mash it a little with a laddle. This is done so that the spinach blends well with the coconut.
• Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked spinach. Mix well.
• Cook until the gravy boils.
• Switch off stove and add the yogurt gradually, stirring constantly. Yogurt is added after switching off stove so that the yogurt doesn't curdle.
• Check for salt.
• In a kadai, pour oil and add mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters, add the red chilly and very finely chopped shallots. Fry until the shallots start changing color to light brown.
• Pour this on top of the gravy.

Serve hot with some fried potatoes and papads!!

Note:

• This gravy has a semi solid consistency. It is not thin like sambar.
• The spinach can also be cooked in pressure cooker.
• After cooking the spinach, it can also be ground in a mixie instead of mashing. I generally don't prefer this.
• Garlic and shallots can be avoided in this recipe.

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