Are you looking for a filling Side Dish Recipe? Check out this wholesome, No Onion No Garlic South Indian Side Dish called Murungai Keerai Kootu. Your ideal weekday meal or Sunday lunch menu made with drumstick leaves (moringa) and lentils in a coconut gravy. Delicious accompaniment to chapati, rice and dosai.
For all the Murungai Keerai, Drumstick Leaves or Moringa fans, this is a must-try recipe. We absolutely love it and I personally am a huge Murungai Keerai fan since childhood!
If you are regular readers of this blog, you would know by now that we adore Kootu at home. Easy stress free cooking with just pressure cooking the ingredients, a little bit of grinding and few minutes of tempering and the whole dish comes together.
You can pack this in lunch box, enjoy as weekend lunch. Goes well with chapati, steamed rice, paratha, dosai, adai and Kozhukattai too. Can be enjoyed by all age groups as its low on oil. The leftovers can be reheated and enjoyed the next day too.
Kootu can be made with almost anything in your refrigerator. Leafy Vegetables, seasonal vegetables, you name it.
Our vegetable vendor got me these tender drumstick leaves early morning so I quickly cleaned the leaves and pressure cooked some paruppu or dal for the Kootu to be served as lunch with rice.
For a South Indian, Murungai Keerai or Drumstick leaves is extremely special. Be it the tender juicy pods or the fresh leaves, we manage to use it effectively in all our recipes.
Have you tried the DRUMSTICK SAMBAR with my home made Sambar Podi recipe from the blog? Try it over the weekend and serve it with some idli and chutney on the side.
With the drumstick leaves, I have also made Murungai Keerai Podi a spicy chutney powder. The recipe uses drumstick leaves that are dried and ground with lentils. The dry podi has a long shelf life and can be mixed with rice and ghee or sesame oil. It also tastes great with breakfast dishes like Idli, Dosa and Adai.
The only time consuming part about Murungai Keerai is the cleaning. If the produce is tender and fresh, cleaning is faster too. Once the leaves are picked, run them under tap water and give it a good rinse to remove all mud particles etc. Drain the water and then use further.
Like all leafy vegetables, I will advise to only clean them just before cooking. Once you wet the greens, they start spoiling even when stored in the refrigerator.
Ingredients for Murungai Keerai Kootu
- Murungai Keerai - Washed and drained well
- Paruppu (Dal or Lentils) - I have used a combination of 2 dals i.e. Toor Dal and Yellow Moong Dal
- Coconut gravy which comprises of fresh coconut + Cumin seeds (jeera) and whole red chillies (I have used Byadgi for the colour)
- A quick tempering in coconut oil that comprises of Urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, whole red chillies and some curry leaves.
Usually for Kootu recipes, the vegetables and lentils are pressure cooked. In this case, we have just soaked and pressure cooked the lentils to avoid overcooking leafy vegetables.
I have sauteed the murungai keerai in the tempering and then added the rest of the ingredients (cooked lentils and coconut gravy).
Let us now check the step wise pictures to make this delicious kootu at home with drumstick leaves.
Step by Step Murungai Keerai Kootu Recipe
Wash and soak the lentils (Yellow Moong dal and Toor Dal) for atleast 30 minutes.
Please note, the brown bits that you see in the picture are because I have used organic unpolished lentils or dal.
Pressure cook the dal until they are mushy. Whisk well and keep aside.
While the dal is pressure cooking, measure and keep the murungai keerai or drumstick leaves aside on to a plate (should be washed and drained well).
For the Kootu gravy, in a mixer grinder jar, add grated coconut, cumin seeds and whole red chillies. Note - I have used byadgi red chillies for the colour.
Grind using 1/2 cup of water into a semi thick paste. Keep aside.
Heat a pan, add coconut oil, urad dal, mustard seeds, chana dal, whole red chillies (broken into two pieces) and curry leaves.
Once the mustard splutters, add the murungai keerai. The leaves will wilt within few seconds.
Add some water and turmeric powder, cook this for a couple of minutes.
Once the leaves have cooked, add the pressure cooked and mashed dal along with the coconut gravy.
Mix well and add salt to taste. At this stage, you can add water to achieve desired consistency. If serving for chapati, keep it thick and for rice, you can add a little water.
Delicious Murungai Keerai Kootu is ready. Serve with poriyal and rice.
Recipe Notes -
- 2 cups of Water - 1 cup for pressure cooking the lentils (extra as required for soaking, not included) + 1/2 cup water for cooking murungai keerai + 1/2 cup to adjust consistency of the kootu.
- If you are using frozen grated coconut, grind using hot water, else it will split.
- I have used two types of lentils. You can use any one or a combination of your choice.
- The recipe is Gluten Free and Vegan.
Some Tamil Brahmin Style Kootu Recipes on the blog -
- Vazhaipoo Kootu (Banana Flower Kootu Recipe)
- Pudalangai Kootu (Snake Gourd)
- Vazhaithandu Kootu (Banana Stem)
- Noolkol Kootu (Kohlrabi)
Murungai Keerai Kootu (Drumstick Leaves Kootu)
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Mixer Grinder
Ingredients
- 2 cups Murungai Keerai or Drumstick Leaves 2 tightly packed cups of leaves
- 1/4 cup Yellow Moong Dal (Pasi Paruppu) 1 cup is 250 ml measurement
- 1/4 cup Toor Dal (Thuravaram Paruppu)
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp is 5 ml measurement
- 2 cups Water Read Notes below in detail
- salt to taste
For the Coconut Gravy
- 3/4 cup Freshly grated coconut
- 3 nos. Whole red chillies (Byadgi)
- 1 tsp Jeera or Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 cup Water to grind
For the tempering
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oil 1 tbsp is 15 ml measurement
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Urad Dal
- 1 tsp Chana Dal
- 3-4 nos. Whole red chillies (small pieces)
- Curry Leaves as required
Instructions
- Wash and soak the lentils (Yellow Moong dal and Toor Dal) for atleast 30 minutes.
- Pressure cook the dal, paruppu or lentils until they are mushy. Whisk well and keep aside.
- While the dal is pressure cooking, measure and keep the murungai keerai or drumstick leaves aside on to a plate (should be washed and drained well).
- For the Kootu gravy, in a mixer grinder jar, add grated coconut, cumin seeds and whole red chillies. Note - I have used byadgi red chillies for the colour.
- Grind using 1/2 cup of water into a semi thick paste. Keep aside.
- Heat a pan, add coconut oil, urad dal, mustard seeds, chana dal, whole red chillies (broken into two pieces) and curry leaves.
- Once the mustard splutters, add the murungai keerai. The leaves will wilt within few seconds.
- Add some water (1/2 cup) and turmeric powder, cook this for a couple of minutes.
- Once the leaves have cooked, add the pressure cooked and mashed dal along with the coconut gravy.
- Mix well and add salt to taste. At this stage, you can add water to achieve desired consistency. If serving for chapati, keep it thick and for rice, you can add a little water.
Notes
- 2 cups of Water - 1 cup for pressure cooking the lentils (extra as required for soaking, not included) + 1/2 cup water for cooking murungai keerai + 1/2 cup to adjust consistency of the kootu.
- If you are using frozen grated coconut, grind using hot water, else it will split.
- I have used two types of lentils. You can use any one or a combination of your choice.
- The recipe is Gluten Free and Vegan.
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We will be back again with yet another exciting recipe .. Until then, stay healthy and happy!
Vidya Narayan