Manathakkali Keerai Kootu

Name: Manathakkali Keerai Kootu
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 21 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Tamilnadu)
Ingredients: 2 bunches manathakkali keerai (black nightshade greens / Solanum nigrum), cleaned and roughly chopped (about 3 cups packed); ½ cup moong dal (pasi paruppu), washed; ¼ tsp turmeric powder; ¾ tsp salt; ½ cup fresh grated coconut; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 2 green chillies; 3 tbsp water; 2 tsp coconut oil; 1 tsp mustard seeds; ½ tsp urad dal; 1 dried red chilli; 2 sprigs curry leaves; Manathakkali keerai (black nightshade greens) are somewhat bitter — this bitterness is prized medicinally and should not be reduced by excessive blanching.; Squeeze out excess water from the cooked greens thoroughly — wet greens make the kootu too watery to hold together properly.; The greens are safe to eat when fully cooked; raw manathakkali berries can be mildly toxic, but the cooked greens are a traditional food across South India.

🌱 Vegan🌾 Gluten-free📊 Easy

Black nightshade greens (manathakkali keerai) cooked with moong dal and a coconut-cumin paste — a medicinal, slightly bitter kootu believed to heal mouth ulcers and digestive issues. A deeply nutritious Tamil lunch side.

⏱️15 minPrep

🔥6 minCook

🕒21 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Manathakkali Keerai Kootu

Grind coconut paste (no heat): Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, and green chillies with 3 tbsp water to a smooth-ish paste.
Combine (medium heat): In the same pan used for the greens, add cooked dal and the cooked squeezed greens. Add coconut paste and salt. Mix well. Cook on medium for 5–6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until the raw coconut smell is gone and the kootu is semi-dry and thick.
Temper and finish (high heat): Heat coconut oil. Add mustard seeds — crackle. Add urad dal (golden). Add red chilli and curry leaves (15 seconds). Pour over kootu. Mix.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 175 kcal | 8 g | 18 g | 8 g | 5 g | Manathakkali keerai holds a near-mythical status in Tamil traditional medicine — it is the primary folk remedy for mouth ulcers (vaaip pun), stomach ulcers, and constipation. Tamil grandmothers make this kootu specifically when family members suffer from these ailments, believing the cooking extracts the healing compounds. Manathakkali vathal (dried berries of the same plant) are used in vathal kuzhambu. The plant (Solanum nigrum) is related to the tomato family and grows prolifically across Tamil Nadu. ---

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