Spinach Koottu

Ingredients:

Spinach          3 cups (i usually use 160 ml cup for measurment)
Toor dal          3/4 cup
shredded coconut    3/4 cup
Onion            1/2    
Tomato          1
Tamarind paste   2 tbsp
Green chilli   4
Turmeric        1 tsp
Cumin seeds  1 and 1/2 tsp
pich of Asafoetida     
salt for taste

Procedure:

1. Boil the toor dal in pressure cooker.
2. Chop onion and tomato.
3. Once the toor dal is boiled well, add the onion, tomato, tamarind paste, asafoetida, spinach, 1/4 cup water and required amount of salt. Mix well and boil it for 1 or 2 whistles.
4. Meanwhile grind the shredded coconut, cumin seeds, green chilli and turmeric powder in mixie into a coarse paste by adding little water.
5. When all the steam has escaped, open the lid of the cooker and check the water consistency of the spinach dal. If it is too watery, cook it in medium high flame till the extra water evaporates. Then add the ground coconut paste to it and cook it in medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes

->  at step 5, don't overcook the spinach dal to a very thick consistency because it gets more thicker after adding the coconut paste. So, keep stirring and check the dal, once it starts to get thick add the coconut paste.
-> I used frozen spinach and frozen shredded coconut.
-> You can add a tbsp of chopped onions along with coconut, green chilli, turmeric powder and cumin seeds while grinding. It will give a different taste, but this is optional. Onion is not added in the coconut paste in the traditional method.
-> You can also add the onions and tomatoes in the dal after frying it in the oil for 3 to 5 min.(either way it tastes good - frying or without frying)