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Vendaya Keerai Thoran is a very delicious and easy to make Stir-Fry. First Moong dal is cooked till soft but firm and finally add the ground coconut spice powder (made using Jeera & Red Chili). It's very flavorful, healthy and tasty

Methi (Vendhaya Keerai)

Vendhaya Keerai (Methi) is a healthy greens and we can make many different dishes using this keerai. Vendhaya Keerai is called “Methi” in Hindi and Fenugreek Leaves in English. Dry fenugreek Leaves are called “Kasoori Methi”. Methi leaves has lots of medical benefits especially for women. Thoran (Thuvaran) is a Stir-Fry Poriyal made in Southern Tamilnadu and in Kerala. Vendaya Keerai Thoran is one of my favorite Thoran.

How to clean Vendhaya Keerai ?

Discard the thick stem and roots. Pluck only the leaves. Wash it thoroughly in the water. You can store the leaves in the refrigerator upto 3-4 days by wrap it loosely in a paper towel and keep it in a ziplock bag

What Other Recipes that we can make using Methi Leaves ?

I used to make this Vendhaya Keerai Thuvaran often. Vendaya Keerai Thoran tastes very nice with any South Indian Kuzhambu or Rasam Variety. I also make methi poori, methi dal and other recipes too Vendhaya Keerai. Try these yummy Vendhaya Keerai recipes and share your comments!

Tips to make Vendhaya Keerai Thoran

Cleaning the greens - These are fresh and usually plucked out along with the roots. We need to clean the greens thoroughly to get rid of sands and dirts.
Spice it up with Onion and Garlic – I made this recipe as “No-Onion-No-Garlic”. We can also make it with Onion and Garlic. After tempering, you can add half cup of onion and 1 or 2 finely chopped garlic and saute the onions well until it turns light brown. Then add the Methi Leaves and continue the process mentioned in the Recipe
Do not add water while grinding coconut - For thorn we need dry coconut masala hence make sure that you grind the coconut mixture without adding water.
Avoid the Grinding process and simplify it – For Thoran (also called as Thuvaran), we usually grind coconut with Jeera and Red Chilli and add it to the Thoran as i mentioned in the recipe. We can avoid the grinding process by simply adding a teaspoon of Sambar Powder and grated coconut instead of grinding Red Chili and Coconut. Jeera can be added along with Tempering process.

Recipe card to make Vendhaya Keerai Thoran

Method with step by step pictures :

Take the moong dal in a pan and add water and cook it. The dal should be cooked and at the same time it should not be smashed. The cooked dal should not stick with each other

Remove the leaves from vendhaya keerai and Wash and finely chop the keerai and keep it aside

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add urdhal and fry till it turns golden brown color and add broken red chillies and fry for a second. To this add the cleaned keerai and allow the keerai to cook. Don't add any waterThe spinach will lose its own water and that is enough to cook the leaves. It will take only 3-4 minutes to cook the methi leaves. Add salt, sugar and turmeric powder and allow the spinach to cook completely