[Indian Recipes] Moringa Leaves Stir Fry

My unintended break from blogging turned out to be a really long one! Initially I kept planning to make some time for blogging and then felt guilty when I couldn’t. I would then tell myself that it’s ok if I didn’t blog for a couple of weeks. In an effort to get back to blogging, I even managed to take photos when I cooked one of the recipes, which a regular reader of the blog had requested. But then I never got around to editing the photos or writing down the recipe. Later on though it slowly started fading from my memory. I almost forgot that I have a food blog too!

After what seemed like years, I happened to check my blog to approve comments and messages by my readers. All those wonderful massages made me feel so thankful and I suddenly really wanted to blog! It might not be the perfect post with my best photos but I am still here after a long time with a new recipe.

A simple ‘Palya’ or a South Indian style stirfry is a regular at our home and today I have a recipe for a Moringa leaves stir fry. Moringa leaves or Nugge Soppu as we locally call it in Kannada is believed to be a super food. This is a recipe I learnt from one of my cooks who comes home to help me in the kitchen. Slightly bitter moringa leaves are cooked with soft and buttery split green gram without the husk or moong dal, which results in a mild flavored stir-fry. Garnished with freshly grated coconut , this green stirfry is best served with some hot rice and fresh ghee/clarified butter.

Notes:

Make sure you clean the moringa leaves well. You need to cook only the leaves without any stalks attached.

You can use 2-3 fresh green chilies instead of the dry red chili if you like your stir-fry spicier.

Ingredients:

3 cups of cleaned moringa leaves
½ cup de husked split green gram /moong dal
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp split black gram
2-3 dry red chilies
salt
¼ cup freshly grated coconut

Recipe:

Soak the de husked split green gram in 2 cups of water for about an hour. Drain the water fully and keep it aside.

Heat the oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as it starts spluttering, add the black gram. Wait for the black gram to turn golden and add the dry red chilies. The red chilies will turn bright red in seconds. Before it burns add the soaked and drained green gram and mix everything well. If the mixture looks like sprinkle a little bit of water, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Keep checking on it to make sure it’s still moist. Now add the cleaned moringa leaves and stir everything well. Add salt to taste and cover and cook for a couple of more minutes. At this stage you can add a little more water if you feel like it’s looking too dry. Continue to cook till everything is soft and dry. Add the freshly grated coconut and turn off the heat. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Lovefoodeat.com. Thanks so much!