Vallarai Keerai Kootu | Indian Pennywort Curry

Vallarai Keerai Kootu is Indian Pennywort Curry prepared with moong dal and spinach with fresh ground coconut masala. It can be served as a rice accompaniment or a side for sambar and rasam rice.

Vallarai Keerai Kootu (Indian Pennywort Curry)

Vallarai is spinach variety popularly known as Gotu Kola and its botanical name is Centella Asiatica.

When I went for my regular Indian grocery shopping, I found this spinach and I was so happy. It’s been a long time since I had this spinach. I grabbed it right away and here is the first recipe that I tried with the spinach. One of the popular and common recipes – kootu. (Stay tuned for the next recipe, which is also with this spinach)

When I was searching for its English name, I found a lot of valuable info and also some name conflicts.  It is called as Indian Pennywort and its Hindi name is Brahma Manduki or Mandukparni. Apparently these leaves are also confused with Brahmi leaves and the botanical name of Brahmi leaves is Bacopa monnieri which is not same as Centella Asiatica. These are the websites that I referred to,

• WildTurmeric
• Herpathy
• TheHealthSite
• Wiki (Of Course)

Preparing Kootu

I am preparing the regular kootu with this spinach which is pretty much like the spinach kootu which have posted earlier. For the earlier one, I didn’t grind black pepper along with coconut instead used the ground powder. But for this, I used both powder and also included ground black pepper and tried different tempering with urad dal and channa dal. (Usually we temper it with mustard seeds and cumin seeds for kootu) You can read about the basic tempering basics here in my post. So here is the simple Vallarai gravy recipe.

Disclaimer: This spinach has loads of benefits but as the saying goes, too much of anything is good for nothing this cannot be consumed regularly like other spinach varieties. Please consult your doctor before using this spinach if you are pregnant or a new mom. Vallarai keerai is known for improving the memory skills. I have seen powders and capsules of this spinach. Before trying those, please consult your doctor.

Vallarai Keerai Kootu Indian Pennywort Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

• Moong Dal – ¼ cup
• Vallarai keerai – 2.5 cups (Tightly Packed)
• Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
• Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
• Salt – 1 heaped tsp
• Water – 1.5 cups
• To Grind:
• Grated Coconut – ⅓ cup
• Red Chillies – 2
• Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp
• Pepper Corns –  1 tsp
• Water – 3 to 4 tbsps
• For Tempering:
• Oil – 2 tsps
• Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1 tsp
• Channa Dal – 1 tsp
• Hing – ¼ tsp

Prep – work:

• Wash the moong dal and pressure cook it by adding 1.5 cups of water and turmeric powder.
• Let it cool and mash it well.
• Meanwhile, wash the spinach twice, remove the stems from the spinach and chop them finely.
• Grind all the ingredients given under “To Grind” by adding 3 to 4 tbsps of water and set aside.

Steps:

• Heat a pan or kadai and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. As they start to crackle, add the hing and fry for about 20 seconds.

• Now add the chopped spinach, salt and pepper powder and mix well.

• Cover and cook for about 5 minutes mixing once in between around 3 minutes. (I didn’t add water at this stage. The spinach along with salt oozes out enough water)
• By now the spinach should be cooked well. Now add the cooked moong dal and the ground coconut paste and mix well.

• Check for salt at this stage and if required adjust accordingly.
• Bring it to a boil and that’s it.

Yummy kootu is ready. This can be served as a rice accompaniment and also as a side for sambar rice.

Notes:

• If you want thin consistency, add required water after adding cooked moong dal.
• Adjust the salt and spice according to your preference.
• Two garlic cloves can be added while cooking the moong dal for additional flavor.
• Coconut oil can be used for tempering for additional flavor.
• Instead of urad and channa dal for tempering, you can use cumin seeds and mustard seeds alone for tempering.

📖 Recipe

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5 from 2 votes

Vallarai Keerai Kootu | Indian Pennywort Curry

Vallarai Keerai Kootu is Indian Pennywort Curry prepared with moong dal and spinach with fresh ground coconut masala. It can be served as a rice accompaniment or a side for sambar and rasam rice.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course: rice accompaniment

Cuisine: TamilNadu

Servings: 4

Calories: 130kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ ¼ cup Moong Dal
• ▢ 2.5 cups Vallarai Keerai
• ▢ ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
• ▢ ½ tsp Pepper Powder -
• ▢ 1 tsp Salt heaped
• ▢ 1.5 cups Water

To Grind

• ▢ ⅓ cup Grated Coconut
• ▢ 2 Red Chillies
• ▢ 1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
• ▢ 1 tsp Pepper Corns
• ▢ 3 tbsps Water to 4

For Tempering

• ▢ 2 tsps Oil
• ▢ 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• ▢ 1 tsp Urad Dal
• ▢ 1 tsp Channa Dal
• ▢ ¼ tsp Hing

Instructions

Prep - work

• Wash the moong dal and pressure cook it by adding 1.5 cups of water and turmeric powder.
• Let it cool and mash it well.
• Meanwhile, wash the spinach twice, remove the stems from the spinach and chop them finely.
• Grind all the ingredients given under “To Grind” by adding 3 to 4 tbsps of water and set aside.

Steps

• Heat a pan or kadai and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. As they start to crackle, add the hing and fry for about 20 seconds.
• Now add the chopped spinach, salt and pepper powder and mix well.
• Cover and cook for about 5 minutes mixing once in between around 3 minutes. (I didn’t add water at this stage. The spinach along with salt oozes out enough water)
• By now the spinach should be cooked well. Now add the cooked moong dal and the ground coconut paste and mix well.
• Check for salt at this stage and if required adjust accordingly.
• Bring it to a boil and that’s it.
• Yummy kootu is ready. This can be served as a rice accompaniment and also as a side for sambar rice.

Notes

• If you want thin consistency, add required water after adding cooked moong dal.
• Adjust the salt and spice according to your preference.
• Two garlic cloves can be added while cooking the moong dal for additional flavor.
• Coconut oil can be used for tempering for additional flavor.
• Instead of urad and channa dal for tempering, you can use cumin seeds and mustard seeds alone for tempering.

Nutrition

Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 594mg | Potassium: 241mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 138IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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