Hearty and delicious South Indian Moringa Dal with fresh drumstick leaves, nutty coconut, and warming spices! Check out this easy gluten-free recipe that can be easily made vegan by substituting ghee with any neutral oil.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Minstry of Curry
On a recent trip to the Indian grocery store, I noticed some greens labeled 'Drumstick leaves' and wondered how to use them. After doing a little research, I discovered they were moringa leaves, known for their versatility and flavor!
Curious, I asked my friend Indu during one of our evening walks if she knew about them. She shared that they’re commonly used in South Indian cooking, especially in lentils. Intrigued, I got her recipe.
On my next trip to Edison, I picked up a pack of fresh drumstick leaves. Following Indu’s recipe, I was surprised by how easy they were to cook. Moringa leaves have a mild flavor and are incredibly adaptable. Here's how to use fresh moringa leaves!
This recipe requires a few dried red chilies (I used the milder ones), fresh coconut, rice flour, cumin, and turmeric. Since I love garlic in my lentils, I add them to Indu's original recipe. Also, I used masoor dal (red lentils) but you can also use Toor Dal.
How to Make Moringa Dal
- Rinse the leaves, pat dry using paper towels, and then pull the leaves away from the steam using your thumb and index fingers. Discard the stems.
- Wash and rinse the lentils, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook them for 10-15 mins until the lentils are soft and mushy. They can also be cooked in a slow cooker, crockpot, or stove top.
- While the lentils are cooking, grind fresh coconut, garlic, red chilies cumin, and rice flour together to a fine paste using a tablespoon of water.
- Heat a heavy bottom pot on medium heat. Add ghee and the finely ground spice paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add the Moringa leaves and cook them for 2 minutes.
- Whisk the cooked lentils, add turmeric to them, and add them to the pot. Add salt and cook until the lentils come to a full boil.
★ Tried this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and let me know, or snap a quick pic and upload it—I love seeing your creations. If you’re on Instagram, tag @ministry_of_curry so I can check it out. Your feedback means so much to me and makes all the time I spend perfecting each recipe totally worth it. Thank you!
Recipe
Lentils with Moringa Leaves
Ingredients
- 1 cup masoor dal red lentils
- 4 oz drumstick leaves 1 cup packed
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 2 tablespoons grated coconut
- 1 tablespoon rice flour I like Bob's red mill organic white rice flour
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilis I used mild ones
- ⅙ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Rinse the leaves, pat dry using paper towels, and then pull the leaves away from the steam using thumb and index fingers. Discard the stems.
- Wash and rinse the lentils, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook them for 10-15 mins until the lentils are soft and mushy. They can also be cooked in a slow cooker, crockpot or stove-top.
- While the lentils are cooking, grind fresh coconut, garlic, red chilies cumin and rice flour together to a fine paste using a tablespoon of water.
- Heat a heavy bottom pot on medium heat. Add ghee and the finely ground spice paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring frequently. Add drumstick leaves and cook them for another 2 minutes.
- Whisk the cooked lentils, add turmeric to it and add it to the pot. Add salt and cook until the lentils come to a full boil. Turn the heat off and the lentils are ready to be served with hot rice or parathas.
Nutrition
♥ Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for tasty and easy video recipes. Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Check out our delicious Instant Pot Recipe board on Pinterest.
Sheryl says
This sounds like a perfect recipe. It makes an attractive dish, is tasty, and is easy to make.
Archana says
Thank you Sheryl!
Sandhya says
Archana,
I love drumsticks but have never used the leaves either. Your recipe is inspiring me to go find them in the Indian store!
Archana says
Thank you Sandhya! I hope you find them, they are very versatile and healthy
chefceaser says
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
Archana says
Thank you!
elliebleu says
I had no idea you could eat Moringa leaves. I'll have to give them a try if I find them at the store. As always, your lentils turned out beautiful.
Archana says
Thank you Ellie! I hope you find Moringa leaves, if not try the recipe with spinach.
elliebleu says
Great suggestion. I'll give it a try 🙂
Archana says
I would love to know how you like it.
ashu@ashstylegourmet says
Nice recipe share, Archana. Yeah the leaves are the most nutrient rich source.
I use Drumsticks but never tried or tasted any recipe using the leaves. I need to check them out in the Vegetable markets here in the UAE, I have not seen them in the supermarkets though.
Archana says
Thank you Ashu. I hope you find them in the Indian groceries. Only recently I started noticing them here in the US.
Starr @ The Misfit Baker says
This dish looks super tasty and easy to prepare! Thanks for sharing it!
Archana says
Thank you Starr! It is super healthy too!!
Medha Rajamanur says
One has to try this recipe to actually know what magic the ground paste does to a daal. Besides the pain of separating each leaf it is a very very easy and tastee recipe. Tried this it this week for dinner. Came out well but will notch up the spice level next time. Something I can now share with family and look good. Thanks to you Archana.
Archana says
Hi Medha! I am happy you enjoyed this healthy drumsticks leaves recipe. It is on a repeat in our family. And I wish there was an easy way to separate the leaves. Cleaning them ahead of time is the only thing I can think of! Thank you for trying these recipes and taking time to give your feedback. These comments truly make my day!
Rhia says
Hi I was wondering why did you use rice flour? Can't wait to try this recipe as I recently had this dhal at a chain India restaurant and it felt healthy and delicious.
Archana Mundhe says
Hi! The rice flour is used to thicken up the dal.