Mashed Greens Curry (Massoppu Saaru)

This is a popular curry in the rural parts of Karnataka, especially the farmer community. It is low in calories and rich in nutrients. I leant the green chilli version from my beloved mother-in-law, Late Smt Parvathamma. It is eaten with Ragi balls, but goes well with rice or steamed millets too. It is nutritious, low calorie and tasty. If you are a small family, try half the quantities mentioned…. i am sure you will love this simple dish.

Category: Rural Karnataka Dish

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Ingredients: 

Toor dal (pigeon pea) : 1/2 measure (~125 gms)

Green leafy veggies - 

Palak or chakkota : 1 large cup 

Dill (sabsige) : 1 large cup 

Methi : 1/2 cup 

Amaranthus : 1/2 cup (optional)

Onion: 1 diced

Green chillies : 3-4 

Jeera : 1/2 tsp

Coconut : 1-2 tbsp, grated (optional)

Tamarind : to taste 

For seasoning :

Oil : 1-2 tbsp

Mustard seeds

Garlic : 4-6 pods, slightly crushed (optional)

Asafoetida: a pinch 

Method:

In a pressure cooker add dal with sufficient water and then the greens. Place onion, chillies, jeera in a small bowl above the greens. Pressure cook them to 3-4 whistles. Let it cool. Now grind coconut along with those in the small bowl. Alongside, prepare the seasoning with the ingredients mentioned above. Let the garlic turn golden brown. Add the ground masala and saute a bit. Now whip the cooked, cooled greens (do not grind in to fine paste) and add to the masala. Finally add all the cooked dal, tamarind and salt and let it boil for a few minutes. Adjust taste and serve with hot ragi balls or rice. Add ghee to enhance taste.

Fried masala chillies (balaka) and sandige (rice crispies) go very well with this curry.

Preparation Time : 40-50 min

VARIATION : 

1) In place of green chillies and jeera or in addition, you could add Curry powder (1-2 tbsp) and tomato (while cooking dal) can be added, it tastes good too. 

2) Instead of only toor dal, you could make a combination of toor dal, green gram dal, black eyed pea, and avare dal to enhance the protein profile. Cook these dals with green chillies and garlic. Grind coconut with onions, coriander powder, jeera and black pepper powder. Add this masala to the seasoning and follow the above recipe. Thanks to my sister-in-law and a good friend, Mangala, for sending this version of the recipe.

INFORMATION 

Vegan - YES
Gluten Free - YES 

CALORIES : 

1 large bowl equals ~200 calories 

 NUTRITIVE VALUE : 

This dish is low in calories yet highly nutritious. Green leaves provide protein, iron, vitamins, and minerals. 

One cup of raw spinach has : 7 calories, 0.86 g of protein, 30 mg of calcium, 0.81 g of iron, 24 mg of magnesium, 167 mg of potassium, 58 mg of folate and 2,813 IU of Vitamin A

Dal is rich in proteins. 100 g of tur dal contains ~ 345 calories, 9.9% moisture, 19.5 g protein, 1.3 g fat, 65.5 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber, 161 mg Ca, 285 mg P, 15.0 mg Fe, 55 mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.72 mg thiamine, 0.14 mg riboflavin, and 2.9 mg niacin.

HEALTH BENEFITS : 

Dark, leafy greens like spinach are important for skin, hair, and bone health. They can protect liver and heart health, control diabetes, reduce cancer risk. Dill and Fenugreek leaves are known to have many medicinal properties. 

Dal (Lentil) is the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet. Lentils support heart health, pregnancy, cancer prevention, fighting fatigue, digestion and satiety. 

ORIGIN :

Lentils is a common name for red, brown, black, green gram and horse gram varieties and they belong to the legume family. Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), also known as red gram or tur dal is most likely native to India, pigeon pea was taken to Africa where different strains were developed. It spread to the new world in post-Columbian times.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) belongs to family Amaranthceae and is thought to have originated about 2000 years ago in ancient Persia from where it was introduced to India and ancient China via Nepal in 647 AD as the "Persian vegetable” 

Dill (Anethum graveolens) belongs to carrot and celery family Apiaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region and southern Russia.

Methi or Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), belongs to family Fabaceae, and is a native of the Indian subcontinent and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

WATER FOOTPRINT (is litres of water needed to produce the food) : 

Spinach/leafy greens : 240 Litres/kg

Pulses/Lentils : 4000 Litres/Kg

GENERAL TIPS : 

Greens are one of the common causes of food poisoning. Hence it is not advisable to eat greens as salads, unless they are home-grown or thoroughly washed and cleaned.  

DID YOU KNOW : 

Just half a cup of raw spinach counts as 1 of the 5 servings of fruits and vegetables you should eat every day.

REFERENCES :

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/fenugreek

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Cajanus_cajun.html

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297638#nutrition

https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Cajanus_cajun.html

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270609#nutrition