Murungai Keerai Poriyal | Drumstick Leaves Stir-fry (Vegan)
South Indian Healthy and easy to make Murungai keerai poriyal – Drumstick Leaves Stir-fry . This vegan recipe makes for a very nice side dish. With step by step pictures.
Drumstick leaves or Moringa as its called in the western world has been used for centuries as folk medicine in India. In Ayurvedic traditional medicine, the leaves are believed to affect blood pressure and glucose levels. Drumstick leaves are given to nursing mothers in the belief that they increase lactation. The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, being a significant source of B vitamins, vitamin C, provitamin A as beta-carotene, vitamin K, manganese, and protein, among other essential nutrients. We consume a lot of drumstick and its leaves in South India. Today I made a poriyal / stir-fry with the drumstick leaves.
Here is how to do it. Clean and wash the leaves and set aside.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and when the oil is shimmering, add in the mustard seeds, dry red chillies and urad dal. Let it splutter and wait till the dal turns golden brown. Add in the finely chopped onions and the salt. Saute till the onions are soft and slightly brown.
Once the onions are soft and slightly brown, add in the cleaned, washed and dried drumstick leaves. Saute in medium flame until all the moisture has escaped and the mixture is completely dry. Add in the shredded coconut and saute briefly for a minute. Remove off heat.
Serve hot with rice or roti.
Murungai keerai poriyal | Drumstick Leaves Stir-fry (Vegan)
Healthy and easy to make Murungai keerai poriyal – Drumstick Leaves Stir-fry . This vegan recipe makes for a very nice side dish.
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon urad dal
- 2 dried red chillies
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cups moringa leaves (drumstick leaves)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 heaped tablespoon shredded coconut
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and when the oil is shimmering, add in the mustard seeds, dry red chillies and urad dal. Let it splutter and wait till the dal turns golden brown.
- Add in the finely chopped onions and the salt. Saute till the onions are soft and slightly brown.
- Add in the cleaned, washed and dried drumstick leaves. Saute in medium flame until all the moisture has escaped and the mixture is completely dry.
- Add in the shredded coconut and saute briefly for a minute. Remove off heat.
- Serve hot with rice or roti.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: South Indian
Can we add turmeric powder with any variety of Keerti?I heard from someone that turmeric powder not to be added
??
Just the way I like it 👍
Thank you!
Hi Suguna, faced two problems when i tried this out – 1) it was not as udhiri udhiri (separate) as your picture shows and how my friends make. It became more like a ball of keerai. (2) in spite of using only the leaves and removing all the stalk, the end result was a little bitter. I face this bitterness with almost all the keerai that i make. Am very clearly missing something. Would you be able to help? Thanks much. Great blog!
One thing is if the keerai is added just after washing, it might have a lot of water which will make keerai like drumstick mushy. I suggest you drain it on a colander for an hour before starting to make the dish. Add more coconut if the keerai is bitter.
Hi,
I am a Punjabi and we never ate drumstick or its leaves. So my family doesn’t know any recipe. I was searching for drumstick leaves recipe and hit this website. It’s an interesting recipe, I do same with red amaranthus leaves. I will try it.
Some people tell me we have to be very careful with stalks of drumstick leaves, not even a little bit should be there. How do you work that out, removing last bit of stalks is becoming very time consuming. Thanks !
A little bit of stalk is ok. It doesn’t hurt as far as I know. But cleaning drumstick leaves in general is a very time consuming process and the stalks are very bitter and firm. So take time to remove as much as you can.
To remove drumstick leaves from the stems is very easy,just wrap the stalks in a newspaper over night and just shake them well. The leaves drop off the stalks
WOW! thats good to know. Will try them soon.
Can we have murungai keerai with non-veg
Its very tasty n simple recipe. We all enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing
Thank You Lavanya!
Great recipe…I added some groundnuts to it..thanks for sharing
Thanks for trying out! Happy Cooking.
Dear Kannamma, Thks, going to try today, sounds tasty RgdsJames
Hi James, Let us know how it turns out!
🙂