Moringa-Dal Shorba (Moringa leaves Soup)

40 Mins (includes cooling time)

Serves 6

Author: Rajni Ram

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Moringa is the latest buzz word everywhere. What with Moringa leaves powder trending the healthy list. Well, the Moringa tree and dishes cooked from its fruit, flowers and leaves have been in India for ages. We have used its fruit, the drumstick in Subjis, Sambar, dal, etc; the leaves too are very aromatic and used as an add-in in Dosas, chilas, and more. The flowers too when added while making ghee, give the ghee a nice flavour and make it aromatic. My grandmother always added a few flowers just before putting off the flame while making ghee and would remove the flowers later, while bottling the ghee. My mother makes a pickle of it too, which is just as wonderful.

The Moringa leaves are bitter and have medicinal qualities besides being rich in Iron. A soup of the leaves is popular down south in Tamilnadu called the Murungakeerai Soup (drumstick leaves soup). I have added a very minute quantity of moong dal to this, to do away with the bitterness. The inclusion of the dal (lentil) also gives the soup some body. I have pulped the leaves after cooking,but have not used the entire pulp in the soup, reason being the leaves are extremely fiber dense and too much of it irritates the stomach for some people. So I have added part of the pureed pulp, reserved the other half and used it in my Dosa batter to make Murungakeerai Dosai (Moringa leaves Dosa). Let me assure you that this is not a bit like Rasam because I have not used Rasam Powder at all.

The fruits of the Moringa tree – the drumsticks are a favorite here at my place, so I have a Drumstick Rasam, as well as Drumstick Curry made in the Rajasthani style here on the blog. I request you to check them out. While you are here I also request you to look up some simple recipes here like Brinjal Pepper Masala, South Indian Vegetable Kurma, Roasted Bell Peppers chutney.

Ingredients

Moringa/Drumstick leaves about 2 cups. Remove from stalk carefully, wash and drain.
Moong dal 2 tbsp cook in pressure cooker until mushy
Shallots about 10 or 1 medium sized onion chopped.
Tomatoes 2 small or 1big chopped
Green Chillies 2
Garlic about 6 to 8 cloves
Cumin Seeds 1tsp
Whole Peppercorns 1 tsp
Salt as required
Pepper powder 2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Water as required
Oil for sauteing
Lemon juice of half lemon.

De stalk the Moringa leaves, pressure cook the moon dal and chop the vegetables.
Now in a pan take some Sesame/Gingelli oil. To the oil add Cumin seeds, and when they splutter add the peppercorns. Saute for 30 seconds and add the garlic. Saute until they start turning brown and then add the shallots and the green chilli.Saute for a minute and add the tomatoes. Continue to saute until tomatoes are cooked.
Now add the Moringa leaves and a little salt( add about 1/4tsp) and saute.The leaves will sweat and release a little water. Now add 1 cup water and turmeric powder and cook. Cook until the leaves turn tender. When you are able to mash the cooked leaves between your fingers, they are cooked. Cool the leaves and onion – tomato mixture.
Now put the leaves mixture into a blender and puree it. Add a cup of water and puree it fine. Check picture for consistency of puree. Now using a strainer, directly strain this puree into the vessel in which you are making the soup (choose a 1 liter vessel).
Now to the strained Moringa leaves juice, add 2 small ladles (approximately 4 tbsp) of the Moringa pulp and store the remaining in the fridge. Add a cup of water, the cooked dal after draining the water, and put the mixture over the flame. Add salt and pepper powder and bring it to a boil.
When the mixture froths and raises in the vessel, add the reserved Dal water followed by another cup of water. Continue to boil. Add the red chilli powder. When the mixture froths up again and raises in the vessel, put off the flame and squeeze the juice of half a lemon. The Moringa- Dal Shorba is ready to serve. Cheers to good health. Enjoy!

De stalk the Moringa leaves, pressure cook the moon dal and chop the vegetables. Now in a pan take some Sesame/Gingelli oil. To the oil add Cumin seeds, and when they splutter add the peppercorns. Saute for 30 seconds and add the garlic. Saute until they start turning brown and then add the shallots and the green chilli.Saute for a minute and add the tomatoes. Continue to saute until tomatoes are cooked. Now add the Moringa leaves and a little salt( add about 1/4tsp) and saute.The leaves will sweat and release a little water. Now add 1 cup water and turmeric powder and cook. Cook until the leaves turn tender. When you are able to mash the cooked leaves between your fingers, they are cooked. Cool the leaves and onion – tomato mixture. Now put the leaves mixture into a blender and puree it. Add a cup of water and puree it fine. Check picture for consistency of puree. Now using a strainer, directly strain this puree into the vessel in which you are making the soup (choose a 1 liter vessel). Now to the strained Moringa leaves juice, add 2 small ladles (approximately 4 tbsp) of the Moringa pulp and store the remaining in the fridge. Add a cup of water, the cooked dal after draining the water, and put the mixture over the flame. Add salt and pepper powder and bring it to a boil. When the mixture froths and raises in the vessel, add the reserved Dal water followed by another cup of water. Continue to boil. Add the red chilli powder. When the mixture froths up again and raises in the vessel, put off the flame and squeeze the juice of half a lemon. The Moringa- Dal Shorba is ready to serve. Cheers to good health. Enjoy!

Notes:

De stalking and cleaning the Moringa leaves is a big job in itself. So if there is a store which sells the de stalked ones, it is a big saver.
To be honest I took about 4 hours to clean the leaves and make usable. Considering the number of health benefits these leaves give, it is worthwhile to take up this project once in a while.
But if you do have a store that sells de stalked ones, go for it without much thinking.
The inclusion of the dal (lentil) also gives the soup some body. So I would recommend you use it.
I have pulped the leaves after cooking,but have not used the entire pulp in the soup, reason being the leaves are extremely fiber dense and too much of it irritates the stomach for some people.
The remaining pulp can be stored in the fridge upto a day and added in your Dosa or Adai batter.
As we prefer a spicy soup I have added more pepper powder and chilli powder. Feel free to reduce as per your requirement.