Kale Poriyal – Kale Stir Fry Indian Style

Simple stir fry with fresh kale leaves, sautéed onions, garlic, spices and fresh coconut!

Kale Poriyal Recipe / Kale Stir Fry Indian Style / Kale Keerai Poriyal Recipe / How to make Kale Poriyal / How to make Indian Style Keerai Poriyal

Kale greens are highly nutritious, very rich in iron and comes under super foods. It belongs to the wild cabbage family and  tastes similar to that of Murungai keerai (Drumstick leaves)

Kale is always available in abundant here in the USA and I use it as substitute for Murungai / moringa leaves which is not that easily available. This keerai / greens is lightly bitter, takes a little longer to cook when compared to other leafy greens. Stir frying it with good amount of onion, garlic and coconut will help to balance the bitterness. You may include a bit of sugar / palm sugar preferably to cut down on the bitterness.

Keerai Poriyal is a must in our home no matter what the menu looks like. The days when we make fish, fish kuzhambu or Puli kara kuzhambu… the side would be some kind of leafy greens stir fry some include cooked dal / coconut and lazy days just simple saute with garlic and butter!

Here are some of the keerai poriyal recipes that you can try…

Vallarai Keerai Poriyal – Indian Pennywort – Brahmi leaves

Vendhaya Keerai Poriyal Recipe ~Methi Leaves Stir Fry ~Fenugreek Leaves Fry

Bok Choy Poriyal – Keerai Poriyal

Print Recipe

Kale Poriyal - Indian Style Kale Stir Fry

Simple stir fry with fresh kale leaves, sautéed onions, garlic, spices and fresh coconut!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: accompaniment, lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: south indian, tamil nadu

Keyword: kale greens, kale stir fry, keerai poriyal, thoran

Servings: 4

Author: Mullai Madavan

Ingredients

Temper

• 1 each Dry red chili
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp Split black gram ullundu
• 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 4 each Curry leaves optional
• 2 tsp Oil

Stir fry

• 5 stalks Kale large
• 1/2 cup Onion diced
• 4 cloves Garlic crushed
• 1/4 cup Grated coconut
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1 cup Water
• 3/4 tsp Salt or to taste

Instructions

• Kale takes quite a long time to cook and even after cooking fully will still look leafy and chewy. They never become soft and tender like spinach, texture similar to drumstick leaves. It can be directly cooked with some water while sautéing or can be blanched separately. I prefer to cook along with the seasoning to make the work easier.
• Wash the kale greens, trim off the thick stalks and discard. Finely chop the leaves and tender stems.
• Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard, cumin seeds, split black gram, dry red chili and curry leaves.
• Sprinkle asafoetida, add diced onions and garlic until lightly soft.
• Add the chopped kale greens, turmeric and water. Let it cook uncovered for 6 minutes over medium flame or until all the water is absorbed.
• When it looks fully wilted and dry, add salt and garnish with coconut.
• Switch off and serve hot as a side for rice!

Notes

Coconut can be substituted with cooked Moong dal too. Usually a single bunch of Kale will have 8 to 9 huge stalks. I’ve used only half of that. If you prefer to blanch before sautéing, then heat up 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil, drench the chopped leaves for 4 minutes, drain and then follow regular keerai poriyal preparation.