MURINGA ILA MOR KUZHAMBU, SHEVGA KADHI, MURINGA ILA MORU CURRY

Drumstick leaves are easily available, very cheap and grows abundantly in India.  It has got medicinal values which are  given after the recipe and worth reading.  It is worth making dish out of this once in a week for health benefits.

I do not remember when I brought the leaves and kept in fridge wrapped in a paper in the door as I used to do with mint leaves and methi leaves.  Since then I forgot about it and never bothered to open and see while cleaning the fridge.  Today, when I was cleaning the fridge, I wanted to remove the unwanted stuff in the fridge so each and every paper packets I opened and saw the drumstick leaves fully dried like the kasuri methi leaves.  Since I love the kootu, molagootal, adai etc. which I used to make with the leaves, I thought I will try the Kadhi today ie. mor kuzhambu in tamil and morukootan or moru curry  in malayalam.

You can make this kadhi with or without coconut.  I made it like the normal Kadhi we used to make along with Kichadi.  Normally, this is a typical  South Indian curry but I made a twist to this to make it more like the Maharashtrian type  Kadhi.  It is really a tasty dish.

other dishes: muringa elai adai, health benefits

Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup dried drum stick leaves  
1 cup curd
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
a generous pinch of hing
1 tbsp gram flour(besan)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt
1 green chilli

tempering:

1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp methi seeds
2-3 garlic cloves with skin
few curry leaves
1 bhor mirchi (chilli)

Method:

In a bowl beat the curd and add 1/2 cup water.  In little water, mix the besan, turmeric powder, salt.  soak the drumstick leaves in water for 10 minutes and squeeze the same and keep aside.
In a kadai, add 1/4 cup water and put the leaves, chilli powder, slit green chilli, black pepper powder  in it and cook for 5 minutes.  add the besan water in the curd, mix well and pour it in the kadai and keep on stirring.  When it becomes slightly thick, remove from fire.  Heat oil in kadai, add  the crushed garlic.   when it is done add mustard seeds, methi seeds, bhor mirchi, hing powder, curry leaves.  Pour it on the curry.

serve with plain hot rice, kichadi and papad.

Variation:  You can use madras onion while tempering.

Few information about the Drum stick plant, leaves and the fruit.

Moringa (drumstick)  is a plant that is native to the sub-Himalayan areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. It is also grown in the tropics. The leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, seeds, and root are used to make medicine.  Moringa is lused for anemia, arthiritis and other joint pain (RHEUMATISM), asthma, cancer, constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, epilepsy, stomach pain, stomach and intestinal ulcers, intestinal spasms, headache, heart problems, high blood pressure, kidney stones, fluid retentio, thyroid disorders and bacterial,fungal, viral and parasitic infections.  It also boost the immune system and increase breast milk production.



Moringa is sometimes applied directly to the skin as a germ-killer or drying agent (astringent). It is also used topically for treating pockets of infection (abscesses), athlete’s foot, dandruff,  gum disease (gingivits),  snakebites, warts, and wounds.

Oil from moringa seeds is used in foods, perfume, and hair care products, and as a machine lubricant.

 The leaves retain lots of vitamins and minerals when dried, moringa is used in India and Africa in feeding programs to fight malnutrition. The immature green pods (drumsticks) are prepared similarly to green beans, while the seeds are removed from more mature pods and cooked like peas or roasted like nuts. The leaves are cooked and used like spinach, and they are also dried and powdered for use as a condiment.

The seed cake remaining after oil extraction is used as a fertilizer and also to purify well water and to remove salt from seawater.

How does it work?

Moringa contains proteins, vitamins, and minerals. As an antioxidant,  it seems to help protect cells from damage.

It is known as Shevga in Marathi, Muringa in Malayalam, Tamil Murungai Maram, Kannada, Nuggekayee, Telugu, Munagachettu, Mushinga Saang in Konkani, Saragvo in Gujarati, Sojne danta in Bengali, Sojina in Assamese, Surajana in Punjabi, and Sahjan in Hindi.