Parippukeerai - Purslane with Mung Dal

 Who would have thought! When I saw this common weed displayed as an edible on Vasili's Garden on Channel 31, I was very curious about it.  It sparked my interest and I read up on it.  It is a vegetable called purslane and it has a very high content of omega 3 fatty acids plus proteins, vitamins A, C and E and minerals like iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The leaves of this plant have a salty lemony flavour and hence it is called "uppukeerai" or salt spinach in my homeland.  I am lucky to have this vegetable growing in my garden freely.  It has pretty red stems and tiny yellow flowers so I have let it grow freely.  Today, however, I decided to harvest, cook and taste for myself this magical herb with so much of goodness in it.  And I must say I was not at all disappointed. Salty, tangy and just perfect with mung dal.  As Vasili would say, Maresi!! I will be making this all through summer as I still have heaps of this in my yard. Make sure that you harvest your purslane from a known area - where weed spray has not been used.

Ingredients:

1 cup mung dal, washed

1 red onion, chopped

1 green chilli, sliced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

2 cups packed, washed, purslane leaves

2 dry red chillies

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

salt to taste

Method:

Harvest the purslane leaves and give them a good wash. Pick out the leaves and the finer stems.  Discard the thicker stems.

In a pot, place the washed mung dal, half the chopped onions, garlic, chilli and about 3 cups of water.

Cook till the dal becomes soft and can be mashed with a spoon. 

Next, add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and purslane leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes.  The leaves should still have a crunch on them.

In a separate saucepan, heat oil and add mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds crackle, add the cumin seeds, remaining chopped onions, and dry red chillies and sauté till the onions become transparent. Pour it on top of the dal - purslane mixture.

 

Mix well.  Serve hot with rice or chappaties.

We had it with rice and fried fish. Maresi!!!!