Keerai Thandu Soup and Side dish

This is a highly Satvik and Pranic food made without onion and garlic.

Ingredients

• முளைக்கீரை Thandu (Amaranth Stem) – 1 Bunch
• Ginger – peeled (4 large 1 inch cubes)
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Shredded Coconut – 1/2 cup
• Pepper powder to taste
• Salt to taste

Recipe for soup

1. Chop Keerai thandu (spinach stem) into small pieces and put them in a pan.
2. Add 2-3 times as much water as spinach stem.
3. Add the large peeled ginger pieces.
4. Add salt, cumin seeds and pepper to taste.
5. Boil these until the spinach stem becomes tender.
6. Filter the soup, and keep the vegetables separately. (We will use the same boiled keerai thandu for making vegetable side-dish. )
7. Serve the soup hot. Add more pepper if needed.

Recipe for keerai thandu kaai

• Use the boiled keerai thandu (in the above recipe) after removing the large ginger pieces from the dish.
• Add shredded coconut to it.
• Tasty and healthy side dish for rice is ready to be served.

Enjoy this as a dinner recipe, or drink this on a cold, rainy day.

Health Benefits of Amaranth Leaves and stem

• Amaranth leaves and stems are good economic sources of carotenoids, proteins, including the essential amino acids methionine and lysine, dietary fiber and minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and manganese.
• Amaranth is also abundant in several pigments, such as carotenoids, chlorophylls, amaranthine, anthocyanins, betalains, betaxanthins, and betacyanins and natural antioxidant phytochemicals, such as vitamin C, betacarotene, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, that act as reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers in the human body.
• These natural antioxidant phytochemicals defend against several diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cataracts, atherosclerosis, retinopathy, arthritis, emphysema, and neurodegenerative diseases.