Description
Swiss Chard also known as silver beet is a leafy vegetable tastes similar to Spinach. My local farmers market use to over flow with these and everytime I use to hesitate to pick a bunch, just for the fear of not knowning how to incorporate this in our Indian cooking. But now, after little exploration, found a way to include this in our meal. I have used green gram to make this lentil curry and to my surprise, it turned good.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1 bunch | Swiss chard |
| ½ cup | Green gram |
| 1 no | Onion (chopped) |
| 3 clove | Garlic (crushed) |
| ¼ tsp | Turmeric powder |
| ¼ tsp | Asafoetida powder |
| 2 no | Dry red chilli (long) |
| ¼ tsp | Mustard |
| ¼ tsp | Cumin seeds |
| ¼ tsp | Split black gram |
| ½ tsp | Salt (or to taste) |
| 1 cup | Water (approx) |
| 3 tsp | Oil |
| 5 nos | Curry leaves |
| 1 pinch | Sugar |
Instructions
Wash and soak Green gram (Pachai paruppu/ Split moong dal/ payatham paruppu) for 1/2 hour. Wash the long Swiss Chard stalks and leaves. The lower part of the stalks will look very thick you can cut that off and discard. Tender red stalks close to leaves can be used, as they cook quickly. Chop them finely and keep aside. I recommend cleaning even after chopping, which can done using a colander, that way the water can drain while the dal is cooking. Heat oil in pan, season with mustard, dry red chili, cumin seeds, split black gram and curry leaves. Include asafoetida powder and then add chopped onion, garlic and green gram with a cup of water. Cover and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes. Check from time to time, to see whether there is enough water to cook, bcos sometimes there is possibility of it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once its done add turmeric powder, chopped swiss chard, sugar and salt. Cook until the leaves are wilted and tender. This should take about 5 minutes. Switch off and serve with steaming hot rice topped with ghee.
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