I fully admit, this is my first attempt at making moringa dal. I figured I could wing it, since I’ve already made different dals. How difficult could it be?! Luckily for me, this is one of those occasions, where I was right! Full disclosure, I was skeptical till the final product was ready. Not having cooked with this leaf before, I had to look up a few recipes online before deciding to pick a recipe. I had a plan though, of what modifications I wanted to make.
Moringa Leaf
While I have been planning to cook this dal for a while now, I haven’t been able to get around to it until now since I couldn’t find fresh moringa leaves. Regular groceries in the US don’t sell it. You get powders, drinks and other products, but not the fresh leaves. I lucked out yesterday during my trip to our neighborhood Indian grocery store. They were selling this huge pack of moringa leaves for two dollars (1.99 actually). I was super excited! I couldn’t wait to get back home and start cooking.
My Moringa Plant
Moringa Recipes
Interestingly, though we used to have a huge moringa tree in India, my mom never cooked the leaves. I decided to chat with her and find out why. She said that back then, they had no idea that the leaves cooked be cooked. They also had no idea that the leaves had so many health benefits. Which is true-moringa leaf has really come into prominence only recently. While moringa pods are used in several recipes in India, moringa leaf recipes are only just getting popular. I did some brainstorming with my mom and got some interesting ideas for a chutney and a lentil curry, which I will be working on soon!
Cooking Lentils
Clearly, my first choice for cooking any dal is Instant Pot. In fact, that is the first thing I cooked when I got my Instant Pot a few years ago. I got it to cook brown rice, but that somehow never worked out for me. I always pressure cook lentils first, set them aside, and then cook the rest of the ingredients, before adding cooked lentils. Many folks think it is extra time and effort, but it tastes better and is far more nutritious this way. Moringa leaves take a couple of minutes to cook, whereas lentils take at least 15 minutes. If you cook them together, you’re losing a lot of nutrition of the moringa leaves.
You are probably aware that moringa is classified as a super food. Moringa has gained a reputation for fighting inflammation and combating various effects of malnutrition and aging, earning the nickname “the miracle plant.”
Here are some of our delicious moringa recipes:
- Drumstick (Moringa) Mustard Curry (made from moringa pods)
- Moringa (Drumstick) Leaf Curry With Roasted Peanuts
- Homemade Moringa-Curry Leaf Spice Powder
- Superfood Moringa Leaf Chutney
And don’t forget to check out all our lentil-based dal and curry recipes:
- Sambar
- Dal Makhni
- Cucumber Dal
- Delicious Dal Tadka!
- Tomato Fenugreek Dal
- Andhra Tomato Pappu
- Yellow Mung Detox Soup
- Rainbow Chard Lentil Stew
- Opo Squash Yellow Mung Curry
- Mamidikaya Pappu- Raw Mango Dal
- Cabbage Kootu: Cabbage & Lentil Stew
- South Indian Palak Dal – Spinach & Lentils Stew
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Instant Pot Moringa Leaf Dal
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Moringa Leaves - Fresh, Packed
- 1 Cup Toor Dal - Split pigeon peas
- 1 Clove Garlic - Large, diced
- 1/2 Cup Onion - Fine cut
- 1 Pepper Dry Red Chili - Large
- 1 Pepper Green Chili Pepper - Slit in half
- 8-10 Leaves Curry Leaves
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Black Gram Lentils - Urad dal
- 1/8 Cup Tamarind - Water from soaked tamarind OR 1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt - Or to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil - Cold Pressed
Instructions
- Wash toor dal lentils until the water runs clear. Soak lentils for 30 minutes and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. If you're short on time, skip soaking and pressure cook for 24 minutes.
- Get your ingredients ready. 1. Moringa leaves (washed and drained) 2. Tamarind , onion, garlic, turmeric powder 3. Seasoning ingredients: curry leaves, urad dal, red and green chili pepper, cumin and mustard seeds 4. Pressure cooked toor dal.
- Set IP on 'saute' mode, add coconut oil, wait for 'hot' sign.
- Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add seasoning ingredients (curry leaves, urad dal, red and green chili pepper, cumin and mustard seeds) and turmeric, mix well.
- Add moringa leaves, stir for a few seconds and add pressure cooked lentils. Add tamarind, salt, mix well and cook for a minute.
- Transfer to bowl and serve hot.
Moringa leaves is a commonly used vegetable in South Indian Iyer cooking. It’s most popularly used in this dish called varmarisi adai which is very similar to your udipi dosa sans the spices…Just add a handful of raw moringa leaves to the batter and cook on an iron skillet .The result is adai with charred moringa leaves which lends an amazing flavor and crispy texture. We also use the leaves to make a molagootal which is an amalgam of moringa leaves, lentils and coconut
So wonderful to read these traditional moringa dishes from your neck of the woods, Nithya. I add moringa leaves while kneading chapathi dough, or to millets/rice rotti and even into curries. Any excuse to use moringa, is good enough for me. Will certainly add it to dosai next. 🙂