Pundi palya chutni

I love pundi playa chutni.Pundi palya is Kannada  for Gonghura or Ambadi leaves.It is said that Ambadi & Alu leaves are the freshest in monsoons & must be consumed in monsoons.Whenever this chutni or dal with gonghura leaves is made ,I eat till my tummy is ready to burst.I can eat chappatis & rice with this chutni or dal.I can eat it just like that .In other words, I tend to overeat whenever this pundi palya is cooked either as chutni or in dal form.I love it so much.

Gongura or sorrel leaves are rich in iron & folic acid which helps in absorption of iron by the human body. So for anemics, Gongura leave are a good source of iron. And consuming this in any form like chutni or gongura dal will help in improving iron deficiency.

Ingredients : 1 bunch of Ambadi leaves ( it is available as a bunch -tied by a jute string ) ,1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1 tbsp oil,1/4 -1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 5-6 green chillies, 1-2 tsp red chilli powder ( optional ),1/2 tsp hing,1/2 tsp haldi,1/3-1/2 cup jaggery shavings  or jggery bits, salt to taste.

Method : Remove the leaves from the stems & clean them in water as any leafy vegetable.The leaves can be chopped roughly or the leaves can be used as such after washing .I used whole leaves.I did not cut them.

Take oil in a kadhai & heat it.Add mustard seeds followed by methi seeds.When they splutter ,add chopped green chillies,hing & haldi.Mix all .Now add the leaves .Mix the leaves with green chillies,haldi hing mixture.Cover the kadhai with a lid & let it cook.After 5-6 minutes,remove the lid & the leaves will have contracted into a grennish brown mass.If some leaves are still green ,mix again & cover with lid.Remove lid & if the whole mass is greenish brown ,add jaggery or gur & mix again.Cover with lid & cook.After five minutes,remove lid.Check with spoon  for any chunks of gur remaining in the veggie mass.If all gur has melted,add slat & mix again.Allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes till it becomes little dry.Remove from gas.

If chunks of gur are still there,cook till all jaggery has melted & then add salt.

I tasted the chutni thus made & found that it was very sour.I added 1-2 tsp red chilli powder & mixed again .Then the taste was somewhat less sour.

The amount of red chilli powder or green chillies ,gur & salt depends on how sour the ghungaroo leaves are.Many times ,one may have to add more chillies or jaggery or salt or all three to make the chutni less sour or lessen the tanginess !

This dish is very rich in iron as it has jaggery as well. Jaggery is a rich source of iron as well.So this chutni has twin benefits of sorrel leaves & jaggery , both rich sources of iron .So this chutni has twin advantages of iron!

This is my #livogenironchef entry for the Iron Chef contest on IndiBlogger.