This is very basic, still I thought this must have a spot in my blog.
Murungai or Moringa is poor man’s vegetable in south India. Moringa is our native tree. Lower middle class homes have the tree almost always in their backyard or frontyard. Hence there is an abundance of murungakai (Moringa veg) and murungai keerai (moringa leaf) supply anyday in local markets.
In my case, my street has many homes with Mururgai tree so i get both Murungai keerai and Murungai kai free most of the times.
Moringa is also considered auspicious vegetable! No wedding feast without Murungaikai sambar.
Murungai health properties are well documented. Besides being a terrific immunity booster, the murungai family is rich in essential nutrition that keeps cancer away. Cheap and best, Murungai is naturally an integral part of south Indian cooking. Kirumi nashini (germ killer).
My interest in Moringa grew manifold when I started noticing Moringa based beauty products in Bodyshop in Doha. Ever since, of course, I started including Moringa more into my food routine. (As we Indians continue to sleep, many of our traditional medicinal recipes are being patented for profit in the west).
Although many of us have Murungai sambhar and Murungai poriyal pretty often, not everyone has an appetite for Murungai Keerai. However, it is mainstay of my kitchen always.
For Murungai Keerai Pirattal, I took a big bunch of Murungai branch leaves that my housemaid plucked for free (!) from a neighbour’s tree!!!
Here are the ingredients:
Murungai Keerai bunch
Onion medium -1
Garlic – a few pods
Dry Red chili – 2 or 3
Coconut scraped – 1 or 2 tbsp (optional)
Peppercorn – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste (used Himalayan Pink Rock/Crystal salt)
Water a little (optional)
Oil for tempering: I use either Gingely oil or Coconut oil both coldpressed 2 tsp
For tempering: 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp broken or whole urad dal
Method:
Pluck the Murungai or Moringa leaves carefully from the stems. Rinse in running water and keep aside.
Grate onion fine
Crush the garlic. I use a stone pound (what we call ‘ammi’ in Tamil)
Break the dry red chili and de-seed.
Crush the pepper corn. You can do this while crushing the garlic.
Heat the oil in a kadai (I use either cast iron kadai or clay kadai only)
When the oil is about to smoke, temper with mustard seeds and urad dal and dry red chili.
When the seeds splutter, add the onion and saute to golden brown.
Add next the crushed garlic-pepper corn.
Finally add the rinsed moringa leaves.
Add little water but mostly not needed.
Cover and cook to a crispy tender. Won’t take more than a few minutes. Under 10 min precisely.
When the murunga keerai has no more water retention, add the grated coconut.
Salt to taste.
Stir well and switch off fire.
Result: the Murugai Kai Keerai Pirattal (pic) which can be had as a subji or be mixed with rice for main course. Serve with a tsp on ghee with rice.
A must for teenage children. Moringa is a staple vegetable in our families always. But of late, our traditional vegetables and greens are hardly appreciated by the younger generation. Today we see many women in twenties with ovarian cysts etc. Infertility is on rise. Moringa is one tree that is truly organic because, it grows right in your backyard. It is pesticide and chemical fertilizer free. One good reason to make Murugai keerai and Murungai Kai poriyal/sambar a compulsory part of your weekly diet. Moringa or the Murungai family is credited with natural fertility properties and other medicinal values as per Ayurveda. It is not without a reason that our families have traditionally made Murungai a vital part of our everyday menu.
So is Murungai Keerai yummy? Not sure about that! Mostly it is acquired taste for us hahaha! But today’s Murungai Keerai Poriyal was too good which is the reason I am posting it here in my blog.
PS: Btw I just loved the subtle fragrance of Moringa moisturizer in Bodyshop !!! Was like none other! So original! I can’t believe the MNCs took the Moringa out of India to make cosmetics from face creams to perfumes!
vijiravindran's 