Spinach…the moment I hear the word my mind envisions Popeye the sailor…. Popeye, with his odd accent and improbable forearms, who was a diehard fan of spinach, which gave him his strength, and perhaps his distinctive speaking style. But why did Popeye eat so much spinach? What was the reason for his obsession with such a strange, dark green canned food? Way back in 1870, Erich von Wolf, a German chemist, quantified the amount of iron within spinach, amongst several other green vegetables.
The scientist accidentally misplaced a decimal point when transcribing data from his notebook, thus changing the iron content in spinach by an order of magnitude…… 3.5 milligrams of iron in a 100-gram serving of spinach, to 35 milligrams and spinach’s nutritional value became legendary. So when Popeye was created, studio executives’ in-charge of production recommended he eat spinach for his strength, due to its health properties. Apparently Popeye helped increase American consumption of spinach by a third! This error was eventually corrected in 1937, but spinach is still looked upon as a powerhouse of iron.
Green leafy vegetables though a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fibre are concentrated sources of oxalates/oxalic acids. Known as anti-nutrients since they bind the precious calcium from our diets, caution in food pairing and methods of cooking is imperative to reduce its intensity. My college lecture through which this knowledge dawned on me was quite upsetting. Why???? I am a diehard fan of Keerai and curd…be it Keerai Masiyal with Curd Rice or Keerai More Kootu with Vathakuzhambu ….the combination leaves me lip-smacking.
The solution to my problem was answered by my professor in the subsequent class…. To reduce the oxalic acid we can resort to the method of leeching… where the greens is cooked in water and the water drained where the soluble oxalates are also washed away thus reducing the concentration of oxalic acids. Another solution is to avoid the combination of greens with food ingredients rich in Calcium during the same meal. Is this possible??? Cheese and spinach bake, Spinach cream soup, Palak Paneer, Methi Malai Paneer, Makhana palak….drooling recipes.
I can hear murmurs about nutrient loss due to leeching…Yes B vitamins will definitely go down the drain. The informed compromise that we have to once in a while make, is to load calcium during another meal on the day when we combine calcium-rich foods with GLVs or pump in B Vitamins using other food sources when leeching. Compromise and adjustments are not just important for relationship building but very essential for a good nutrient loaded meal leading to a vibrant physical health.
KEERAI MORE KOOTU / AMARANTH CURD CURRY RECIPE:
Ingredients for Keerai More Kootu Recipe:
- Washed and chopped amaranth/Keerai 1 c
- Thick fresh curds 1 c
- Green chilly 2
For tempering-
- Oil 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds 1 tsp
- Black gram dal 1 tsp
- Bengal gram dal 1 tsp
- Asafoetida ½ tsp
- Salt to taste
Preparation Method for Keerai More Kootu Recipe:
- Place the chopped Keerai in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add ¼ c of water and cook till soft with the required amount of salt. Mash and set aside.
- Grind green chillies along with curd.Whisk with the cooked and mashed Keerai.
- Temper and serve.
Nutrient Rich & Healthy “Keerai More Kootu” is ready 🙂
