South Indian Style Spinach Stir Fry Recipe


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Keerai poriyal recipe | Palak keerai poriyal | Pasalai Keerai poriyal recipe with detailed step by step photos and procedure. It is a south Indian poriyal recipe, spinach stir fry with garlic, onion, and coconut as the main ingredients. Spinach is called as keerai and palak variety as pasalai keerai in Tamil.

Keerai poriyal recipe is a traditional recipe hails from Tamil Nadu. It is easy to prepare, also a very healthy and flavorful side dish for rice and roti. This dish can be prepared within 15 mins. You can also make this keerai poriyal without coconut. Traditionally, the grated coconut is added at the end of the curry to enhance the taste and flavor. Also, it can be easily modified as no onion and no garlic recipe as well.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Keerai poriyal is a great accompaniment for rice, roti, phulkas. To be precise, it tastes so delicious with parrupu sadham (dal chawal), sambar rice, rasam rice, and curd rice. My amma used to make this poriyal once a week and packs for my school lunch box. In fact, the simple sambar sadham, Keerai poriyal along with potato roast is a heavenly combo. I used to relish it in my childhood days. (Sadham means boiled rice in Tamil).


You can prepare a lot of Tamil Nadu style spinach recipes which are simple, healthy, and quick to make at home. The Palak keerai recipes include palak keerai kootu, palak keerai kulambu, palak keerai kadayal, palak keerai masiyal, palak keerai sambar, palak keerai rice, and so on. I have a plan to post these recipes in my blog as and when I prepare. These are wholesome and nutritious foods to have on a daily based meal. Also, it can be prepared with several types of spinach.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


In Tamil Nadu, there are numerous kinds of keerai varieties which are Murungai keerai, ponnanganni keerai, manathakkali keerai, arai keerai, agathi keerai, siru keerai, mulai keerai, thandu keerai, vallarai keerai, vendhaya keerai, mudakathan keerai, milagu thakkali keerai, pasalai keerai, etc. I'm not sure how these are called in English except murungakeerai as drumstick leaves and vendhaya keerai as methi leaves. The availability varies based on the season and climate.


Here in San Diego, we get baby spinach, collard greens, salad greens, and a few spinach varieties. This keerai poriyal recipe is made with baby spinach. It turned out so delicious. Also, you can easily substitute it with any kind of spinach such as kale, drumstick leaves, amaranth (Red spinach) based on the availability in your place. Spinach cooks really fast, so do not add water. Similarly, be very careful with salt quantity as it requires a very less than normal level. Plus, you can add a pinch of sugar to preserve the green color but I'm okay without it.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


I have been posting a lot of spinach recipes recently. If you are visiting my space regularly, you must be wondering why...I know, this is my 4th spinach based post in this month. Actually, I got a huge bag of spinach at a very cheap price in Ralph's and made a lot of palak dishes with that. It took almost 3 weeks to finish it off. Besides, I have attached some Indian spinach recipes for you. Check out them below. These palak keerai recipes taste great with chapathi, roti, phulkas, and hot steamed basmati rice. Hit the below recipe link!







Spinach in different languages:

Spinach in English, Palakura in Telugu, Keerai/Pasalai keerai in Tamil, palak cheera in Malayalam, Paalak soppu in Kannada, Saag/sag in Bengali, Nepali and Palak in Hindi, Gujarati, Oriya, Punjabi.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Recipe - Keerai Poriyal Recipe | Palak Keerai Poriyal | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal



Serves - 2 to 3
Cuisine - Indian
Region - Tamil Nadu
Course - Side dish
Prep time - 5 min | Cook time - 10 min | Total time - 15 min.
Author - Pavithra


Pasalai keerai poriyal ingredients:


1. Spinach/Keerai - 1 big bunch
2. Red onion - 1 medium
3. Coconut - 2 tbsp shredded
4. Oil - 1 tbsp
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
7. Channa dal - 1 tsp 
8. Urad dal - 1 tsp
9. Garlic - 4 to 5 
10. Green chili - 1 
11. Red chili - 1 to 2
12. Salt - Half tsp / As per taste


How to prepare palak keerai poriyal:



1. Wash and roughly chop the spinach and dice the red onion.
2. Place a pan over a medium flame. Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds and then add cumin seeds, channa dal, and urad dal. Fry until it turns aromatic.
3. Add garlic, green chili, and red chili. Fry for a minute.
4. Toss in the onion and saute until it turns translucent.
5. Sprinkle some salt to speed up the process.
6. Now, add in the spinach.
7. Give it a nice mix and let it cook on a medium flame. (Note: Do not add water).
8. Spinach becomes tender within a few minutes.
9. Garnish it with shredded coconut.
10. Saute for a minute and switch off the flame.
11. Keerai poriyal is ready to be served along with rice/roti.


How to make keerai poriyal with step by step photos:



1. Wash and roughly chop the spinach and dice the red onion.

2. Place a pan over a medium flame. Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds and then add cumin seeds, channa dal, and urad dal. Fry until it turns aromatic.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


3. Add garlic, green chili, and red chili. Fry for a minute.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


4. Toss in the onion and saute until it turns translucent.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


5. Sprinkle some salt to speed up the process.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


6. Now, add in the spinach.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


7. Give it a nice mix and let it cook on a medium flame. (Note: Do not add water). 


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


8. Spinach becomes tender within a few minutes.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


9. Garnish it with shredded coconut.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


10. Saute for a minute and switch off the flame.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


11. Keerai poriyal is ready to be served along with rice/roti.


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Palak keerai benefits:



1. Spinach is high in fiber.
2. It is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin K. 
3. Rich in Iron, manganese, and calcium. 
4. It reduces blood pressure levels and oxidative stress.
5. It strengthens bones.
6. It improves digestion.
7. High in antioxidants.
8. It strengthens the immune system.
9. Spinach is a low-calorie vegetable.
10. It is rich in vitamins and minerals.


Keerai poriyal calories:





(Calories are an estimation only. Please refer to very well for more detailed calorie chart and nutrition facts, etc).


Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Do try this keerai poriyal recipe | palak poriyal recipe | Spinach poriyal and let me know how it turns up. Express your thoughts in the comment section below, can't wait to hear from you.

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Keerai Poriyal Recipe South Indian Style | Pasalai Keerai Poriyal


Learn how to make Keerai Poriyal Recipe | South Indian Style Palak Keerai Poriyal recipe with step by step images.