Moringa Leaves Lentil Curry/ Murungai Keerai Kootu

Murungai Keerai Kootu is a tasty and healthy dish – generally as a side dish with rice in the South Indian Cuisine. We make Kootu with different vegetables. I tried with Murungai Keerai and it came out to be a very tasty dish. Everyone at home loved it!  

Ingredients:

Drumstick Leaves (Separated and cleaned) – 1 ½ cup

Tur Dal – ¼ cup

Oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Urad Dal – – 1 tsp

Curry Leaves – from 1 twig

Dried Red Chillies – 2 (broken)

Garlic Pods – 3 (Finely chopped)

Onion – 1 (Finely chopped)

Small Tomato – 1 (Finely chopped)

Turmeric Powder – 1 pinch

Salt – to suit taste

For Grinding:

Grated Coconut – ¼ cup

Green Chillies – 2 (chopped)

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

Method:

Rinse the Tur Dal and cook it in a pressure cooker with Turmeric and enough water for 3 whistles till the Dal becomes mushy.

Wash the Moringa Leaves thoroughly and keep aside.

Take the ingredients under “For Grinding” in a small mixer jar and grind them to a fine paste with required water and set aside.

Heat the Oil in a pan. Add Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal and Red Chillies. Stir for a few seconds. Add the Curry Leaves and Onion. Sauté till the Onion becomes translucent.

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Add Tomato, Salt and Turmeric Powder. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the Moringa Leaves and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes in medium flame.

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Add a cup of water. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes covered with a lid till the Moringa Leaves are cooked well.
Add the cooked Dal. Mix well. Adjust Salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Add ground Coconut paste, mix well and cook for a minute or two.

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Transfer to a serving bowl.

Note:

You can use Moong Dal also in place of Tur Dal.