Recipe for murungai keerai kuzhambu made with freshly ground masala paste. Excellent side dish for rice. Recipe with step by step pictures and video. அரைத்து வைத்த முருங்கை கீரை குழம்பு செய்வது எப்படி?
Drumstick leaves kuzhambu (kulambu) is a regular side dish for lunch in south Indian homes. Drumstick leaves is something we used to have at-least once a week. This was all before it became the “super food”. I have almost always been borderline anemic. So I try to have drumstick leaves as often as I can as its a power house of vitamins and minerals. This curry is so comforting along with the rice. Since drumstick leaves are a little bitter, I always add the salt at the end. It helps cut the bitterness a little. Here is how to do it.
Here is the video of Drumstick Leaves Kuzhambu
Drumstick leaves prep
Murungai Ilai or moringa leaves needs a little prep work. Pull the leaves from the stem and set aside in a bowl. There might be small tiny stems still attached to the leaves and that is perfectly fine. Do not bother too much.
Almost always, the moringa leaves have a lot of sand and fine dust in them. Wash and soak the leaves in water for 10 minutes. Gently remove the leaves from the top. While cleaning any greens, leaves, do not strain. The sand and the fine debris gets settled in the bottom of the vessel after soaking. Gently remove the greens from the top making sure not to disturb the sediment at the bottom. We will be using about a cup of murungai leaves today for this recipe. Set aside.
Cook the dal
Now we will cook the dal. cook half a cup of moong dal with 1.5 cups of water for 3 whistles. About 5 minutes on medium flame.
Note: You can make this curry with toor dal also. It comes out nice. Its a good variation.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Let the pressure from the cooker settle naturally. We will be adding the cooked moong dal in the curry later.
Now we will make a masala paste
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add in the coriander seeds, black pepper, red chillies, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves.
Fry for a minute. The roasted spices gives a very nice aroma and flavour to the curry. Make sure that the flame of the stove is medium when roasting spices. Roasting on a high flame will burn the spices.
Add in the chopped garlic and small onions. If you do not have small onions (Indian Shallots), you can substitute regular onions.
Saute for 2-3 minutes till the onions are soft. No need to brown the onions. Getting the onions soft and translucent is good.
Add in the turmeric powder and fresh shredded coconut.
Saute for two minutes. Do not fry the coconut for long. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Grind all the sauteed spices with half a cup of water to a smooth paste. Make sure that the ground paste is really smooth.
Making the kuzhambu
Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the cleaned drumstick leaves and saute for two to three minutes. I have used Indian sesame oil (gingely oil) for making the curry today.
Add in the ground paste to the pan. Add half a cup of water to the empty mixie jar and wash off all the leftover masala paste and add it back to the pan. Let it simmer for a minute.
Add in the cooked dal and another half a cup of water. Mix well.
Add in the salt and let the curry simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Murungai keerai kuzhambu is ready. Serve hot with rice.
- ½ cup moong dal
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon Indian sesame oil / gingely oil
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 red chillies
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 10 small onions, chopped (shallots)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ cup fresh shredded coconut
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoon Indian sesame oil / gingely oil
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 cup drumstick leaves (murungai keerai ilai)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Wash, clean and prep the drumstick leaves. Set aside.
- Cook half a cup of moong dal with 1.5 cups of water for 3 whistles. About 5 minutes on medium flame. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Let the pressure from the cooker settle naturally.
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add in the coriander seeds, black pepper, red chillies, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Fry for a minute. Add in the chopped garlic and small onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes till the onions are soft. Add in the turmeric powder and fresh shredded coconut. Saute for two minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Grind all the sauteed spices with half a cup of water to a smooth paste.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the cleaned drumstick leaves and saute for two to three minutes.
- Add in the ground paste to the pan. Add half a cup of water to the empty mixie jar and wash off all the leftover masala paste and add it back to the pan. Let it simmer for a minute.
- Add in the cooked dal and another half a cup of water.
- Add in the salt and let the curry simmer for 5-7 minutes.
- Murungai keerai kuzhambu is ready. Serve hot with rice.
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