Here is a recipe for Moringa dal or Drumstick leaf dal which is so delicious and super healthy too!
Moringa is making huge waves as the latest health food around the world, but while the world discovered it recently we have been eating it forever. Moringa Leaves are nothing but our humble drumstick tree leaves. It is a native Indian tree which is now been planted all over the world for it’s fantastic health benefits. And this moringa dal or drumstick leaf dal is one of those amazing recipes.
All over India, there are recipes which use all parts of the tree. The leaves, flowers and then the drumsticks themselves. Every part of the tree is supposed to be full of vitamins and minerals. I have a drumstick tree at the farmhouse and hence Moringa is a regular part of our lives, the sindhi curry with flowers or flower chutney. The drumstick sabzi and what sambhar can be better than the drumstick sambhar?but my favorite part of the tree are the leaves. I absolutely adore them.
One cup of drumstick leaves has 2gms of Protein, 19% of your Vit B6 required for the day (RDA – Recommended Dietary Allowance), 12% of Vit C RDA, 11% of the Iron RDA, 11% of Vit B12 RDA, 9% of Vit A RDA and 8% of Mg RDA (source : Google Nutrition). They are also very rich in antioxidants like Quercetin (which helps regulate blood pressure) and Cholorgenic Acid (which helps regulate blood sugar) and they are also said to help in reducing the cholesterol level in the body. Do we still need more reasons to eat drumstick leaves aka moringa?
I use it at home in many ways, in dosas and chutneys. In dals and paranthas, and I am hoping to share a series of recipes featuring them, starting with my favorite Drumstick leaves dal.
Drumstick Leaf aka Moringa Dal
Ingredients
- 2 cups drumstick leaves
- 1 cup toor dal
- 1 onion large chopped
- 2 tomato large chopped
- 8 - 10 curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
- 2 green chillies split
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- to taste salt
For the tempering/tadka
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1/4 tsp heeng
- 3 garlic
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp jeera seeds
- 5 - 6 curry leaves
- 2 chillies red dry
- 1 tsp chilli Powder
Instructions
- Wash and roughly chop the drumstick leaves. Keep aside
- Wash and soak the dal in water for an hour. Whatever dal it is I prefer to soak it in water for an hour before cooking since it removes the toxins and to certain extent the pesticides in the dal.
- Boil together dal, drumstick leaves, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, slice green chillies, curry leaves salt and turmeric. Let the cooker whistle once and then reduce the flame and cook for 3-4 minutes. Let the steam release by itself.
- In a small kadhai or tadka pan, heat ghee and when hot add heeng and when it browns add mustard and jeera seeds. Sautee for 1 minute till the jeera browns and mustard starts spluttering. Add the garlic, curry leaves and dry red chilli and saute further for 2 minutes. Add chill powder and pour the tadka over dal and serve with hot steaming rice
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