Maseel aka creamed greens sauce

Greens are our most favorite vegetables at our home. If we cook them carefully with interest and not just dutifully, the greens will turn out sooo tasty and everyone at home will eat greens without any reluctance. Greens are a vital source of essential nutrients, calcium, and vitamins; all of which are health protecting elements of food. Greens have become our kids favorite too. There are so many different varieties of greens which are available at different times, for short periods, throughout the year; spinach, amaranth, fenugreek greens, etc., are the most popular ones. You may want to see My Dhaba's other green recipes posted before - keerai (amaranth) poreel and drumstick leaves fried with eggs. Here is our recipe for the traditional maseel aka creamed greens sauce.

Bringing the ingredients together...


Maseel aka creamed greens sauce recipe

Ingredients:
Greens – 3 handfuls of washed and finely chopped greens (Greens of your choice – spinach, amaranth, or fenugreek greens)
Onions – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Green chillies – 3, medium size, medium hot, slightly slit at the stem end
Garlic – 3 beads, finely sliced
Tomatoes – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Tamarind extract – 1 tablespoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon or adjusted to taste
Ghee – ½ teaspoon
Oil – ½ teaspoon
Mustard seeds – ¼ teaspoon
Black-gram dal – ½ teaspoon
Dried red chillies – 2, medium size, medium hot, broken into halves

Method: Put the onions, garlic, green chillies, tamarind extract, and tomatoes all together in a thick-bottomed vessel. Put the greens over the other ingredients. Add salt. Cover and boil them over moderate heat until tender. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool. The water clinging to the greens when washed will be enough to cook them tender; only if needed, spinkle few drops of water over the greens while it is cooking. Mash the greens with a heavy hand (I prefer this way) or with a dal churner. You may also mash the greens in a blender till well mashed. Heat a frying pan and pour in the oil and ghee mixture into it. When very hot, put the mustard seeds to splutter, black-gram dal to brown lightly, and dried red chillies. When the red chilly turns crisp, pour a spoonful of sauce over it and return immediately to the sauce again. Churn lightly to blend into the sauce. Enjoy either hot or cold with hot rice. You may omit the tamarind extract if you are making the maseel for chappaties or bread.


Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Maseel aka creamed greens sauce