My mom makes murunga keerai quite regularly and I love the way she makes it. It is gently spiced with coconut, green chillies, jeera and the addition of moong dal enhances the taste of the dish. I tried amma's recipe and I was glad that it tasted quite close to hers. Since this is not something you can get in restaurants, I enjoyed murunga keerai after a very long time.
Murunga Keerai / Drumstick leaves cooked the Indian way |
What She Uses -
Drumstick leaves - 2 cups
Moong dal (Siru paruppu/ paasi paruppu) - 2 handfuls
Turmeric powder / Haldi - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp - to temper
Salt - to taste
To Grind Together -
Coconut (Grated) - 5 tbsp
Green chillies - 3
Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
How She Makes It -
Tip~ Removing the drumstick leaves from the stalk is a painful process and it doesn't seem to end forever. But you can save time by getting help from your partner and get this boring chore done while watching TV ^_^
Once this is done, the rest of the recipe is super-simple and quick!
- Cook moong dal with 3 times water. Moong Dal is easy to get cooked so you can do it without a pressure cooker, just using a pot with lid.
- Salt the water.
- When water starts boiling, add the keerai, i.e., drumstick leaves.
- Add turmeric. It is said to kill bacteria and other harmful germs/pesticide that could be present in the leaves. In fact, I add turmeric to Cauliflower and Broccoli also for the same reason.
- Dal and drumstick leaves do take too long to get cooked. Around 10-15 minutes.
- Strain the water and save it to drink later as clear soup :)
- Now, take a kadai, heat 1 tsp oil, allow mustard seeds to splutter.
- Grind together coconut, green chillies and jeera to a paste and add that.
- Add the cooked keerai + dal next and mix well.
That's about it :) In 20 minutes or less, you have a nutritious dish ready to eat n serve
Yeah...murunga keerai is very good for health...we dont do this stuff often..
ReplyDeleteI have an excuse here that I don't find it so easily :P
ReplyDeleteAmma makes this yummy murunga elai adai, and your pic just reminded me of that!
ReplyDeleteWow! Adai with murunga elai? That sounds yummilicious :)
ReplyDeleteI see this a lot in Little India whenever I go but never picked it up because of the trouble to pluck the leaves separate. This always me of my grandmom though, and her patience to do that picking :)
ReplyDeleteWill get some next time I go, for sure! You have motivated me :)
Glad to hear that :)
ReplyDelete