KEERAI SAMBAR & RAW BANANA PORIYAL– LUNCH RECIPES

March 6, 2025 | By

I learnt both keerai sambar & raw banana curry recipes from my MIL. Its a nice combination. I usually make this sambar once in a week as its healthy. We love this combo. My MIL says , keerai sambar needs less tamarind and more dal. This sambar should be little bit thicker than our usual sambar. I used Arai keerai ( Amaranthus) here.U can try Mulai keerai & siru keerai , karisilankanni keerai too..If u r using siru keerai or karisilankanni keerai  add little more tamarind as those leaves tastes slighlty bitter..

INGREDIENTS
  • Arai keerai (Amaranthus) – 1 cup
  • Tamarind – Big gooseberry size
  • Toor dal – 1/2 cup
  • Green chillies – 2 nos
  • Sambar powder – 2 tsp
  • Sambar onions – 12 nos ( use whole onions, no need to chop)
  • Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Hing – 1/2 tsp
  • Salt & water – As needed

To temper:

  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Methi seeds –3/4 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • Red chilli – 1 no ( pinch & add) 
METHOD
  • Wash & chop the keerai ( use the stem too ) roughly. Pressure cook toor dal along with greens , 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder & a drop of oil till the dal is nicely mashed and set aside. You can also pressure cook dal & keerai separately. 
  • Extract the juice from the tamarind and set aside.
  • Now in a kadai ,heat oil and all the tempering items one by one  in the same order. Add the sambar onions & green chillies and saute till it turns transparent.
  • Now add the tamarind extract , 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder ,sambar powder , salt & hing. Let it boil well for few minutes with a nice aroma. Then add the mashed dal & greens mixture.Add little water if the sambar is too thick. Boil for 3 –4 minutes and serve hot.

NOTE: Greens can be cooked in the tamarind extract instead of  cooking with dal. But I follow this  method to reduce the cooking time.Sometimes my MIL adds only red chillies .
Adding sambar onions is a must for this sambar. This gives a great smell & taste. If u dont have sambar onions in hand, u can use roughly chopped big onions too..

RAW BANANA PORIYAL / VAZHAKAI PORIYAL
INGREDIENTS
  • Raw banana – 1 no ( big)  OR 2 nos ( if very small)
  • Sambar powder – 1 – 1.5 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Tamarind – Berry sized ( less than small gooseberry size)
  • Salt – as needed

To grind

  • Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Big onion – 1 no
  • Jeera – 1 tsp

To temper

  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaves – few
METHOD
  • Wash , peel the skin and chop the raw banana in circles and soak in water. ( to avoid color change)
  • In a vessel, cover cook the raw banana along with salt , a piece of tamarind, sambar powder , turmeric powder , salt with required water.Cook for 5 mins & check the banana is done.Do not over cook them..
  • Now drain the excess water & set aside.Grind the coconut in a mixie, then add the big onion & jeera and run the mixie once or twice to crush the onions.( Onion pieces will be visible)
  • In a kadai , temper all the items given above and add the cooked raw banana pieces & the coarsely ground coconut- onion mixture..Saute in a low flame till u get nice aroma and the golden brown layer forms at the bottom.Add oil if needed..
  • While sauting make sure u don’t break the banana pieces and becomes mushy.
  • Serve with sambar rice !

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22 thoughts on “KEERAI SAMBAR & RAW BANANA PORIYAL– LUNCH RECIPES”

  16. Unknown

    Hi Chitra, you had posted two recipes for Sambhar powder on your website. Which sambhar powder did you use for this recipe ?

    Reply
  17. rizwana@truthuncensored2022

    Awesome website chitra. Very inspiring. I like the combinations u suggest ….. Thanks for sharing lovely, healthy and traditional recipes. Thanks to ur mom in law too. ����

    Reply
  18. rizwana@truthuncensored2022

    Hi chitra,

    I love ur website a lot….especially interested in the combinations that u suggest…..👍 , interesting recipes in every page. Thank u for sharing healthy , traditional recipes….. 👌

    Reply
    3. Chitra

      Yeah, even we used to follow this.But nowadays its all changed just for quick cooking.So if we like to follow the old fashioned way, we can go ahead.

      Reply
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