Paruppu Keerai Masiyal (Dal Spinach Mash)

Name: Paruppu Keerai Masiyal
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Tamilnadu)
Ingredients: ¾ cup toor dal (thuvaram paruppu), washed; 3 large bunches fresh spinach (palak or keerai), cleaned — about 300 g; 5 cloves garlic, crushed whole; 2 green chillies, slit; ¼ tsp turmeric powder; ¾ tsp salt; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1 tsp mustard seeds; ½ tsp cumin seeds; 1 dried red chilli; ¼ tsp asafoetida; 2 sprigs curry leaves; The pressure cooking of dal + greens together (not separately) is the key — the greens' chlorophyll flavours the dal during cooking.; Mash while still hot — cold dal is harder to mash smoothly.; Ghee is non-optional for this dish — it provides the fat that the simple mash needs.; Pairs with a small side of store-bought pickle (urugai) and papad — no other sides needed.

🟢 Veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Easy

A comforting, wholesome dinner of toor dal and fresh spinach cooked together and mashed into a thick, unified mass with garlic — served over rice with a generous spoon of ghee. The quintessential Tamil light dinner when the appetite calls for something nourishing rather than heavy.

⏱️10 minPrep

🔥20 minCook

🕒30 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Paruppu Keerai Masiyal

Pressure cook dal with greens (medium heat): In a 3-litre pressure cooker, combine washed toor dal, fresh spinach, crushed garlic, slit green chillies, turmeric, and ½ cup water. Do not add too much water — the greens will release their own liquid. Cook on high until steam, reduce to medium, and cook for 4 whistles. Release naturally.
Mash everything together (no heat): Open the pressure cooker. The dal should be completely soft and the greens wilted and merged. Using a dal masher (or heavy ladle), mash vigorously until a smooth, uniform mass forms — no whole dal grains, no leaf pieces. The garlic should be fully incorporated. Add salt. The consistency should be between a thick dal and a stiff mash.
Temper (high heat): Heat sesame oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds — crackle. Add cumin (5 seconds). Add red chilli, curry leaves, and asafoetida (15 seconds). Pour over the mashed dal-keerai. Mix.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 280 kcal | 13 g | 38 g | 9 g | 7 g | Paruppu Keerai Masiyal is the Tamil comfort dinner at its most primal — dal, greens, and ghee. This combination has fed Tamil families for generations and remains the go-to light dinner across all Tamil communities regardless of social class. The dish embodies the Tamil phrase "soru, paruppu, nei" (rice, dal, ghee) — the holy trinity of Tamil home cooking that many consider the foundation of a long and healthy life. In Siddha medicine tradition, eating spinach-dal mash with ghee is prescribed for anaemia, weakness, and recovery from illness. ---

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