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moringa leaves

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Moringa leaves have made some appearances on my blog in the past, for instance in this omelette, as well as a suggested sprinkling across numerous other dishes. Moringa leaves are a very versatile green commonly used in South Indian cuisine, which happen to be considered a superfood. You may also know them as the leaves of the drumstick tree. Today, I want to share the recipe for moringa chutney, a tasty way to make use of this highly nutritious ingredient.

Moringa powder is also easy to make at home, if you have access to the trees. Just dry the leaves in the sun for five or six hours, powder and store. Remember to only use the leaves, and discard the stem. You can use it liberally across all kinds of dishes, to boost their antioxidant, mineral, amino acid and vitamin content.

Coming back to the chutney: I wanted to make it in a more traditional way. You may recall from my previous post, on roasted tomato soup, that I was nostalgic for the food mill method my mother would use. So this time, I decided to use the ammi-kallu, or grinding stone, to prepare this chutney. I do believe that it has come out extra flavourful because of the hand-ground effect. You can of course still get a delicious chutney with a modern blender.

I know it’s unfair to compare this moringa chutney to a pesto, but that’s what comes to mind for me. Like a pesto, it can be used in lots of different ways. You can have it as a dip with idli, mix it with a dollop of ghee onto rice, or even spread it on toast. The jar I made when I did the photoshoot for this recipe was wiped clean in two days, as my family found so many uses for it. It’s not a runny kind of chutney, which lets you get creative in terms of how you can use it.

Speaking of creativity, I was even thinking of bottling some and gifting it for Diwali, as a unique and surprising alternative to the usual Indian sweets. Perhaps that’s something you may want to do too, this festive season. I hope you’ll enjoy making and sharing this lovely moringa chutney!

Moringa Chutney

(Yield: One bowl)

1 tablespoon oil

¼ teaspoon asafoetida

4-6 shallots

1 teaspoon urad dal

3 cloves garlic

1 inch piece of ginger

6-8 curry leaves

2 slit green chilies

2 marble-sized balls of tamarind

1½ cups moringa leaves

½ cup shredded coconut

 

Add oil to a pan. Once it has heated, add the urad dal and asafoetida. Sauté until the dal is golden and well-roasted.

Next, add the green chilli, tamarind, garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few minutes.

Next, add the curry leaves. Sauté and add then add the moringa leaves. Sauté some more. Turn off the heat and then add the shredded coconut. I find this final ingredient tames the flavour a bit, and enhances it in its own way.

Add the above to a blender and make a paste of a thick consistency. If you are using a traditional kitchen tool, do so instead. Your moringa chutney is ready, and can be enjoyed as an accompaniment in numerous ways. If you are a fan of chutneys in general, you may also want to check out a few other variations I’ve shared, including lasun ki chutney, plum chutney and raw mango chutney.

Moringa leaves are considered a superfood by many. For us in South India, the moringa plant literally grows in our own backyards and we take it for granted. In fact, the English word comes from the Tamil word for the plant – “murunga”. As you may know, my family are Gujaratis who have been settled in Tamil Nadu for generations, so it was very much a staple ingredient in my growing years. It was just convenient for my mother to go to the back garden, pluck some moringa leaves, chop them up, cook them and throw them into our theplas if there were no methi (fenugreek) leaves on hand. Moringa leaves are versatile that way, and lately I’ve been taking my mother’s Gujarati-Tamil fusion to another level with a Continental-Tamil fusion: moringa leaves omelette.

Unlike other green leaves, moringa cannot be eaten raw and takes some time to cook. Also, the stalks are not usually consumed, as they can cause indigestion. Funnily enough, I have noted that the stalks can be safely used in soups. The vegetable of the tree, which is commonly known as drumstick, is certainly edible of course.

If you don’t have access to fresh moringa leaves in your part of the world, you can easily replace this ingredient with kale or another type of leafy green, or with moringa powder. I make moringa powder at home, since the method is quite easy during the summers. I pluck the leaves, pat them to clean them, and leave them out in the sun. The heat at this time of year is so intense that the leaves dry up in just a few hours. I then dry-blend them to create the powder. I usually prepare about six months’ worth of stock, to reach for when I don’t have fresh moringa leaves or the time to go out and pluck them for a dish.

 

The eggs I use in this recipe come from our hens – happy, bullying free range hens that produce organic eggs. I use the whole egg, and I don’t believe in removing the yolk, which is full of nutritious goodness, including protein. While I’m on that thought, I should also say that I don’t believe in using skim milk. Skim milk is processed milk; I would much rather drink natural milk with all the fat in it and retain all the nutrients we are supposed to get.

I realise that vegetarians or vegans may be wondering if there’s any chance of salvaging this recipe for them, and this is what I suggest: besan chilla is often known as vegetarian omelette, and you can make it with moringa leaves. Moong dal is also a good substitute.

The idea for this recipe came because I had eaten eggs with spinach and feta cheese at many places, and one day I thought – why not moringa? Why not indeed, given that I routinely throw those leaves into dals, rotis and theplas just like my mother used to. It’s a very simple and very satisfying recipe, I hope you’ll try it out.

Moringa Leaves Omelette

(Yield: 1 omelette)

2 eggs

½ cup finely cut moringa leaves

Salt to taste

A pinch of pepper

¼ cup feta cheese

1 tablespoon butter

 

Heat a pan and add the butter. Once it sizzles, add the moringa leaves. Allow to cook for a few minutes.

In a bowl, crack the eggs and beat them well. Now, add the sautéed moringa to the eggs and beat again.

Heat the pan again and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Allow to cook on a medium flame and then flip until both sides of your omelette are well done.

Serve with any garnish or accompaniment of your choice.

As you can see, this is a very easy recipe with minimal ingredients – moringa leaves, eggs, seasoning and some cheese (which is optional). If you’d like to boost both the protein and fusion quotients of this dish, you could even sprinkle some paneer on top. It will make the omelette more filling overall, as well.

Omelettes go well with any main meal, so I’d love to know what time of day you wind up eating this one! Let me know in the comments if you enjoy it.