Murungai Keerai Podi (Moringa Leaves Chutney Powder)

I honestly declare - Our very own Indian Super food Moringa, Drumstick Leaves or Murungai Keerai (in Tamil) can give any Matcha a run for their money. An Indian Super food that is Inexpensive, locally available, packed with health benefits, Ayurveda recommended too.

Today's recipe is a delicious and healthy Murungai Keerai Podi recipe. A healthy mix of lentils, whole red chillies, peppercorns and sesame seeds roasted and ground along with sun dried Moringa Leaves.

This Murungai Keerai podi can be mixed with steamed rice and ghee. One of my favourite ways to enjoy this is to smear the podi and sesame oil on piping hot Ragi Idlis.

Almost every part of a Moringa tree is useful. The pods (also known as Drumsticks) are used to make soups, stews (South Indian Sambar), while the leaves are dried and added in a variety of recipes.

How to use Moringa Leaves?

Moringa leaves stay fresh in refrigerator for couple of days but do not wash them until you are ready to cook. Here are some of the ways in which you can add Moringa Leaves or Drumstick leaves to your diet.

• Add it to your home made dosa batter.
• Adai - One of the best and delicious ways to enjoy leaves is to add them in Adai Dosa. Adai is made with mixed lentils and rice. Wholesome breakfast or brunch recipe made instantly without fermentation.
• Add it to Dals - Be it Moong, Arhar or Pigeon pea dal and Masoor, you can simply add a fist full of moringa leaves to the dal while pressure cooking.
• Make a quick stir fry with basic tempering, onions and tomatoes. Pair this with rotis or dal chawal.
• You can sun dry the leaves (like I have explained below) and then use it in a variety of recipes like Buttermilk, sprinkle some on curd etc too along with some salt to taste.

As South Indians, including the Moringa Pods and the leaves have been a staple in our diet. In fact, I make a delicious Drumstick Poriyal, when tender drumsticks are in season. So juicy and naturally sweet with the grated coconut. Don't forget to check out the recipe. It is Vegan too.

Even in Indian Markets, finding Moringa Leaves at times, becomes a challenge. The drumstick or pods on the other hand are quite common. When I spot the leaves, I ensure I buy a big bunch so that I can use it in a variety or recipes and even grind the podi or just sun dry the leaves and stock them.

While on the topic of finding the Moringa Leaves, let me quickly tell you how I managed to get a big bunch from a local farm. In the month of January, while we were returning back from a trip, we stopped to drink fresh Sugar cane juice. The owners had a small farm adjacent to the shop where they grew vegetables like aubergine, green chillies and tomatoes.

I bought freshly plucked vegetables and then spotted this huge moringa tree. Unfortunately, there were no drumsticks nor flowers (again, edible) but I was happy about finding fresh tender moringa leaves.

I loaded the back seat of our car with the leaves wrapped in some newspapers and happily headed home. So much for little joys in life! After returning home, I made a batch of Murungai Elai Adai and even shared on my Instagram stories.

Even after making the dosa, I was left with a huge batch of the leaves so I quickly made the Murungai Keerai Podi. Considering how quickly podi is consumed at our place, I ground a slightly large batch. Sorted for a few days now with the podi in the refrigerator. Everything from Steamed Rice to Breakfast will be sorted.

Do not forget to check out some of the Podi Recipes on the blog - Thengai Podi (Coconut Lentil Powder), Kollu Podi (Horsegram Lentil Powder) and Ellu Podi (Sesame Lentils Powder)

Herb based podis especially curry leaves and Murungai Keerai are far effective if they are sun dried and then ground instead of roasting them on a pan. The nutrients, in case of the former process, stays intact and not to mention, the gorgeous green colour it imparts to the podi is a bonus.

For this particular recipe, I have sun dried the Moringa Leaves for couple of days (atleast 8 hours X 2 days). I have only warmed the leaves on low flame, to ensure there is no moisture, just before making the podi with the lentils and red chillies.

Lentils and other ingredients need to be individually roasted and then kept aside for cooling. I grind them separately and then mix it together since the leaves grind within a few seconds while the lentils take a while.

Step by Step Recipe Murungai Keerai Podi (Moringa Leaves Chutney Powder)

Heat a thick bottom kadhai and quickly roast the sun dried murungai keerai for just couple of seconds. Keep them aside for cooling in a wide steel plate (as shown below)

Now in the same kadhai, add urad dal lentils and then roast it until golden brown.

Roast the chana dal similarly until they are golden brown in colour. Keep aside in a separate plate for cooling.

Now add the sesame seeds. Wait until you hear them popping and then immediately remove them aside on to a plate.

Add few drops of oil and then saute the whole red chillies. Remove them and keep aside.

Roast the whole black peppercorns and keep aside.

Keep all the lentils, peppercorns, sesame seeds and whole red chillies aside for cooling. After they cool, add salt to taste and some hing or asafoetida.

Grind them together. The texture should be slightly coarse and not completely fine.

Now grind the moringa leaves.

Mix both the ingredients, check for salt and add extra, if required.

Store this in an air tight container. Stays fresh for months when stocked in a refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

• As explained above, I have used sun dried moringa leaves for this recipe. If you live in a country where this would be a challenge then dry roast the fresh moringa leaves on low flame until they are crisp.
• The prep time for the recipe does not include the sun drying period of 2 days.
• I have added Kashmiri Whole Red chillies and pondy chillies as I love both colour and heat in podi recipes. You may add according to your spice tolerance.
• The 4 cups moringa leaves mentioned in the recipe are the dried leaves not the fresh ones.
• Except while roasting the whole red chillies, this podi recipe is almost oil free.

Taking this recipe to the A to Z challenge this month wherein we choose to cook with key ingredients Alphabetically. This month it was time for Alphabet ‘M’. I chose my key ingredient ‘Moringa Leaves’ to make this healthy South Indian Podi .

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Vidya Narayan