Last week, I was reminded of a recipe, which I used to make at home before marriage. Glad that a recipe that had skipped a place in my cookery book collection was back, I immediately tried it out. I was just contemplating how the simplest dish is sometimes the best. My family enjoyed and relished this new entry, to the core.
The soup-like thanni Saar, made out of greens or spinach and coconut milk as its main ingredients is light, refreshing and nutritious. The combination of the ingredients in this recipe gives it a bland and cooling effect to our body.
The crux is in the manner in which the coconut milk is added. The thanni Saar is a typical south Indian dish, which is often served an accompaniment with white rice, but here in my picture of the dish I have served it with rotis (typical north Indian style).
Ingredients:
- Spinach or greens (siru keerai) -2 bunches clean and cut fine.
- Onions- 2 chopped fine
- Coconut – half
- Garlic – 1 or 2 pods peeled and crushed
- Tomato-2 chopped fine
- Green chillies- 2 or 3 slit
- Gingely oil(Til/Sesame oil) – 1 tbsp
- Lemon – 1 (juice)
- Salt
Method:
- Grate half a coconut, run it in a mixer with 100ml of water. Strain the liquid for the first milk. Keep aside.
- Repeat the same procedure for the second and third milk with 100ml of water each time.
- In a pan, heat oil, fry onions and green chillies.
- Add garlic and fry. Add tomatoes, cover the pan and cook till tomatoes become soft.
- Add the spinach/greens and fry for five minutes.
- Now add the second and third extract of coconut milk.
- Cook on low fire till spinach is cooked.
- Add salt and the first coconut milk, switch off the stove immediately.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Serve piping hot with white rice or rotis.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6