Recipes to enjoy the benefits of drumstick leaves

Drumstick leaf or moringa leaf is an excellent source of iron, vitamin-C, potassium, calcium, aminoacids and antioxidants. Its benefits are enormous. Our ancestors used to eat the leaves regularly to prevent many chronic diseases like arthritis, diabetes and cancer and also to improve immunity. Somehow, we seem to have forgotten that!

I will elaborate some recipes so that you can give your kids drumstick leaves.

1. Drumstick leaf dal

Remove the tender leaves from the twigs and wash them (3 handful of leaves). Gentle saute them in cooker pan with tadka of your choice and little ghee. To this, add moon dal (washed) (one handful) and about 200 ml water. Pressure cook it (one whistle only). Add tumeric and salt as per your taste.

Can add tomato and onion along with dal.

Can add green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves along with dal.

Can add ginger and garlic along with dal.

2. Drumstick leaf curry

Remove the tender leaves from the twigs (10 large twigs) and wash them well. Saute them in ghee tadka for about 5 minutes. To this add moong dal (one handful; soaked in water for half an hour). Simmer for 5 minutes in low flame after adding salt and closing the lid.

3. Drumstick powder

Remove tender leaves from the twigs (20 large twigs), wash them well and dry them completely in shade (direct sunlight denatures Vitamin C). Then dry roast them in wide kada (in simmer) until the leaves are completely dry.

In another kadai, dry roast red chilli, bengal gram dal, urd dal, jeera and coriander seeds (2 spoon each) with little hing and dry tamarind.

After all these items are cooled completely, dry grind them together in mixie with half spoon jaggery powder and salt as per taste.

This powder can be stored for 2 weeks. It can be eaten with hot rice and ghee or as chutney powder for idli and dosa. It can also be added to Sambhar.

4. Soups, Shorbas and vegetable stews

The leaves can be simply added to any soup, shorba or stew that you are making. The flavour is excellent.

5. Pakoras and bajjis

These leaves can be added in the besan flour and pakoras and bajjis can be made the way you make with spinach.