Needless to say, I did this extremely time-consuming task watching tv and recruited TH to help me too. He did it with an expression that seemed to say “why are we doing this again? I don’t feel compelled to eat this thing if prepping it is such a pain you know”. I ignored it and kept plucking diligently until I had a large plate full of fresh drum stick leaves.
Then I realised I didn’t know how exactly aatha (amma’s amma in Reddiar telugu) cooked this so I called amma. She told me you need to rub the leaves with the spices you are going to use and then cook in a low flame with water sprinkled over it. This is how amma makes most thoran although I cook the vegetable first before adding spices. For the drumstick leaves, I decided to go the aatha way.
Also check out drumstick leaves rasam and drumstick sambar recipe.
4 cups drumstick leaves muringayila
1 cup grated coconut (adjust amount to taste)
1 tsp red chilli powder
A large pinch of turmeric
2 shallots
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
How I Made It:
1. Remove the drum stick leaves from the stems. Wash thoroughly.
2. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder to the washed leaves. Set aside for 30 mins. It will let out water.
3. Grind coconut coarsely with the shallots and cumin powder.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the marinated leaves, stir around to combine. Cook closed on low heat for about 5 mins. Open, add the ground coconut mixture and stir well again.
5. Cook closed for another 5-10 mins until the leaves are cooked through and soft. Make sure you mix in between to prevent browning at the bottom.
Serve with rice and any pulusu / kozhambu of choice.
I love murunga keerai!!! Your photo has made me crave for some right now! Gorgeous clicks!
wow a very different and new recipe to me … never tried with drumstick leaves ….. looks delicious nags …
and there is a tip to separate the leaves from the stem easily. keep it in the fridge, wrapped in a plastic cover for 2 days. Then take it out and you can see that the leaves fall on its own and they will still be fresh
beautiful…my mother makes exactly the same, but we do not use so much coconut 🙂
I have seen many thoran recipes in all the blogs.never tasted it. tommorrow is my veggie shopping .added to the list will try this recipe looks very yummy
Nags, the curry looks yum! (perfect south Indian everyday meal)
I have never made this at home, but Drumstick sambar/ kozhambu is one of my all time favorites!
lovely clicks and a healthy treat too!
I love this, Oh! what a delightful smell it gives, I don't make it this way, next time if I ever find it here , I will cook it this way, as the bowl looks so appealing. beautiful clicks as always
Nice 🙂 You made murunga keerai finally…I remember you telling me you had been postponing this because of the sheer effort involved in separating the leaves…
ramya, i left them in the fridge actually but they were not too fresh, slightly wilted actually