Muringa Ela Curry/Drumstick leaves in Lentils

Drumstick tree is one of the most versatile tree, the good news being all parts of the drum stick plant are edible:-) Starting from the leaves/flowers and of course the drumsticks
Back home in Kerala we had two trees in backyard. The tree was quite big but poor guy was not at all strong …very weak I must say
Every monsoon a big branch falls off and we would end up in drum stick diet for next 3 days

My mom who is the queen of creativity manage to include some part of the fallen drumstick branch in all 3 meals for next few days.Starting from Drumstick leave dosa to drumstick leave thoran n curry and even drumstick leaves ada.This one is from her Drumstick recipe collection:-)

Here is what you need
1/3 Cup Toor Dal
1 Cup Drumstick leaves
½ tspn turmeric powder
Grated Coconut ¼ Cup
Green Chilies 2
Salt to taste
1/2 Cup water

For tempering
2 tspn Coconut Oil
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 Dried Red Chilly
2 shallots chopped finely.

Clean the lentils and soak for about15-30 minutes.
Pressure cook the lentils with water and turmeric powder till the lentils are soft and cooked well.
Add the Drumstick leaves to the cooked lentils and cover and cook over low flame for 10-15 minutes.

Grind together the Coconut, green chilies and add the mix to the drumstick leaves gravy
Once the gravy starts to boil, switch off the flame.

Meanwhile make the tempering by heating the oil in a wok, followed by adding mustard seeds and red chilies.
Once mustard seeds start to sputter add the shallots and sauté for a minute or two
Add the tempering to the curry and give it a stir.

There you have a nutritious muringa ela curry..

This is my entry to this month's Kerala Kitchen event hosted by Ria