Thothakoora Koora

In the entire world of vegetables, the worst of them is broccoli and thothakoora which is Amaranth leaves. They are tasteless and so bland. My mom has been trying to feed it to me for years now and I still scowl at her whenever she makes it. Even a few months ago when I was visiting her, when she made it I scowled with every morsel. I will hate thothakoora for the rest of my life because of how stupid it tastes. I should dedicate this entire post to how stupid thotakoora tastes because it tastes stupid. But, its incredibly healthy. It’s loaded with all these vitamins and has amazing health benefits. It helps with cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, hair greying and oh, it doesn’t stop there. It is rich in calcium, antioxidants, minerals and has lot of protein. There are two kinds of amaranth leaves – the green one and the red one. I don’t know much of a taste difference but my mom says the red one tastes better.

There are only a few recipes that my mom makes (all of which taste rather stupid, if you ask me). But the dal is quite fine when made with mangoes. I didn’t find any mangoes this week, dal was out of option. So that left me with the option of making the koora which tastes bland, but the addition of minnapa vadiyalu it makes it much more eatable. The crunch from the vadiyalu gives the tasteless stir fry a little taste. My mom and my MIL both make the vadiyalu every summer and send me a few that I complete over the summer since thothakoora is available mostly only during the summer when it’s cheaper. I get the leaves freshly from the farmer’s market where I get a huge huge bunch for $2 and it’s so fresh and remains that way for over a week.

Ingredients

Thothakoora – 1 medium sized bunch

Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon

Salt – As needed

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Channa Dal – 2 tablespoons

Urad Dal – 2 tablespoons

Mustard Seeds – 1 tablespoon

Cumin Seeds – 1 tablespoon

Asafoetida – 1/2 teaspoon

Dried Red Chilies – 4

How To Make

• 

Step 1: In a pan, add oil. Once hot, add the channa dal and urad dal. Once they start browning add the mustard seeds. As they start spluttering add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. Now add the dried red chilies.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Step 2: Once the red chilies are fried, add the chopped thothakoora and 1/2 a cup of water, and mix them all a bit.

• 

• 

Step 3: Place a lid over the pan and make sure it cooks well.

• 

• 

Step 4: Cook until all the thothakoora comes together and all the water evaporates. Add Turmeric and salt and give it a mix.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Step 5: Serve it over hot rice and with minappa vadiyalu.