Drumstick leaves curry or moringa leaf curry with coconut Kerala style south Indian recipe is very healthy, delicious and easy to make.
Drumstick leaves which is known as moringa leaves or muringayila in South India is known to be extremely healthy.
This drumstick leaves curry made in South Indian style, is prepared with fresh drumstick leaves (muringayila), coconut, spices and red cowpeas (vanpayar) as the main ingredients.
Drumstick leaves is one of the best leafy vegetables you can include in your diet if possible, since they are so healthy.
Cleaning of drumstick leaves or moringa leaves is not very difficult, rather it is fun to do.
The leaves will fall from the stems quite easily, so it is better to have some space before you start to take off the leaves from the stems, as it will make the clean up easy later.
In the below picture, you can see fresh drumstick leaves which is also known as moringa leaves.
How To Prepare The Moringa Leaves To Make The South Indian Moringa Curry?
If you have a bunch of moringa leaves, you can lay down the leaves on a flat surface like the table.
Just take off the leaves gently from the stems. You have to get rid of the thick stems but having very little tiny stems close to the leaves is very much fine.
Once you have separated all the leaves from the stems, transfer the leaves to a bowl and gently rinse the leaves. The water will not stay on the moringa leaves and you can the water droplets falling off from the leaves.
It can be quite tricky to drain off the water from the bowl after you clean the leaves.
The best and easy thing to do is just take the leaves out of the water using your hands (instead of trying to drain the water out), and it is so easy to do, as the leaves will just come off.
Repeat this two to three times until you have taken all the leaves out from the water and transferred the leaves to another clean bowl.
Once you have transferred all the washed leaves to a clean bowl, let us start preparing the dish.
How To Make South Indian Style Moringa Leaf Curry?
We use grated coconut, spices and also red cowpeas to make this yummy and healthy South Indian style moringa leaf curry.
I have more recipes using red cowpeas in my blog like this cowpeas curry gravy with coconut, cowpeas thoran recipe, banana flower stir fry with cowpeas etc.
Red cowpeas is very healthy and makes a natural source of protein especially helpful for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.
We do not use any oil in this as it is very yummy even without a single drop of oil.
We use garlic and spices which will add much flavor to the dish and this curry will be so delicious when served with rice for lunch or dinner.
So here is how we can make this yummy drumstick leaves curry following this drumstick leaves curry with coconut Kerala style South Indian recipe.
Drumstick Leaves Curry Recipe Below
Drumstick Leaves Curry Kerala South Indian Style Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh drumstick leaves about a bunch
- 1 cup grated or shredded coconut unsweetened
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and grated or crushed
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 green chilies
- 5 cups water keep extra if needed
- 1 cup red cowpeas, dry
- salt as required
Instructions
- Lay down the bunch of drumstick leaves on a flat surface like a table (you can keep a plastic paper over which you can keep the leaves which will make the clean up later easier).
- Gently remove the leaves from the stems. Make sure to remove all thick stems, it is fine to have a few very fine stems.
- Transfer the leaves to a large bowl and rinse the leaves using fresh water. It will be quite difficult to drain the water from the bowl, it is more easy to take the leaves with your hands as they will come off easily. Transfer the washed leaves to another clean bowl. Repeat this for two to three times, so you can transfer all the leaves from the water easily.
- Grind together the grated coconut, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and green chili with two cups of water in a food processor, to make a yummy coconut base for the curry.
- Transfer the drumstick leaves to the pressure cooker, add the grind coconut mixture and stir well.
- Add the red cowpeas, and you can add the remaining 3 cups of water to the pressure cooker.
- Add the remaining spices - turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and also enough salt to the cooker and mix everything well.
- Cover the cooker with lid and safety valve and cook the contents in medium to heat for about 12 minutes or until 3 to 4 whistles come.
- After 12 minutes of cooking, switch off the pressure cooker and allow it to cool down.
- Once the cooker is cooled enough, open the cooker and see if all the contents including the red cowpeas (vanpayais cooked and soft.
- Mix the contents very well, you may add a little more water if you prefer more gravy for the curry (heat the mixture for another 1 to 2 minutes in low heat if you are adding extra water).
- Drumstick leaves curry is ready to be served!
- Serve the healthy, easy and delicious drumstick leaves curry in coconut gravy along with rice for lunch or dinner.
Nutrition
Hope you found this post on drumstick curry with coconut Kerala south Indian style recipe helpful!
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