Drumstick Leaves Recipe | Moringa Leaves Recipe
Updated: March 1, 2022, By Swasthi
Drumstick leaves also known as moringa leaves are a super food and has been well used in the South Indian kitchens from the ancient days. Moringa tree is called as drumstick tree in India. The leaves of this tree are edible and are well known for their medicinal properties. Drumsticks are very commonly used in various recipes like stir fry, dal, sambar & drumstick curry. Moringa leaves are also used in lentil/ dal and stir fry preparations.
About Moringa Leaves
Drumstick leaves are said to normalize the blood sugars and are recommended to be used regularly. Though we had drumstick trees in our backyard, my mom never used these leaves to prepare any dishes. It was only the drumsticks that were more often used.
We started using these only after I moved to Singapore. Moringa leaves can be used in so many ways. One of the best & easiest ways I chose is to make a stir fry along with a vegetable like potato or cauliflower or sweet potato.
My kids eat well if prepared with potatoes, so I often chose to make it this way. Drumstick leaves stir fry goes well with rasam and steamed rice. This dish can be made in 2 ways. The first method is to boil the potatoes al dente and then temper them and stir fry with spices and curry leaves.
The other way is to stir fry or roast the potatoes in a pan until cooked. Then add the drumstick leaves and stir fry. If you want to follow this method, check out this potato stir fry. Add the moringa leaves at the last stage.
In this post I have shared the method to make it with boiled potatoes.
You can spice up the dish as you like with coriander powder, garam masala or sambar powder. But I do not add anything except for the basic spices like green chilies, tempering spices and garlic.
For a spicier dish simply add red chilli powder, sambar powder or garam masala.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Drumstick Leaves Stir Fry | Moringa Leaves Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 3 large potatoes (boiled, peeled and cubed)
- 2 cups drumstick leaves (adjust to taste)
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon urad dal (optional)
- 1 tablespoon chana dal (optional)
- 3 to 4 green chilies slit or ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon hing (asafetida)
- 1 dried red chili (broken, optional)
- 1½ to 2 tablespoon Oil
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
Instructions
Preparation
- Separate the leaves from the stalks and wash thoroughly in enough water, drain the leaves in a colander to remove water thoroughly.
- Option 1 – Boil potatoes al dente. I usually boil them in the instant pot for 7 to 9 minutes depending on the size. The potatoes must be just cooked and not mushy, Once done, peel the skin and cube them.
- Option 2 – You can also simply stir fry the potatoes first instead of boiling. For this cube the potatoes to ½ to ¾ inch pieces and keep them immersed in a bowl of water until used. When you are ready to add them to the pan, drain the water and rinse them once.
How to make drumstick leaves stir fry
- Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin, mustard, dal, garlic and red chili. Fry till the dal turn golden. Add curry leaves and green chilies fry for 1 to 2 mins.
- Add hing, boiled potatoes, salt, turmeric and fry for 3 to 4 mins. If using raw potatoes, stir fry them on a medium heat for 2 to 3 mins. Cover and cook on a low heat until fork tender. If required you may splash little water to help them cook faster.
- Increase the flame to medium high. Add the moringa leaves and fry till they wilt off. Keep stirring and fry. If the leaves are not tender, you may cover and cook.
- Serve drumstick leaves stir fry with rice and sambar or rasam.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
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About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
You think i can use green papaya?
Hi Darlene,
yes it should work. You can cook green papaya following these recipes. Replace carrot with raw papaya
carrot poriyal (steam or boil papaya first till fork tender or cook in the pan, splashing little water)
carrot curry
Healthy n delicious?
I always look for you for any kind of recipe.
Hi Lakshmi,
That’s so nice to read! Thank you so much & that makes me happy
🙂
Healthy n delicious ?.. I always look for you first for any kind of recipe.
Delicious recipe. I use this moringa leaves recipe a lot of times and it’s easy to make. Can you please share more ideas to use the leaves? TIA
Thanks Sujatha. Yes sure I will soon update the post to include my ideas.
This recipe looks lovely. Can you freeze moringa leaves? I found some a month ago and put them in the freezer. I hope they still cook nicely.
Thank you for your fragrant , tasty and healthy recipes.
Hi Mareena
You are welcome! I haven’t frozen these leaves any time. I think they should be okay to cook. Try with a small quantity.
Hello swasthi,
I loved the style of moringa (drumstick leaves) stir fry with potatoes. Made it and liked the taste also. I was browsing for recipes and came across your blog. Yesterday i made dal with moringa, i used tur Dal instead. Both were lovely dishes. I am grateful for your recipes. Thank you. Blessings ?
Hi Sary,
You are welcome. So glad to know you liked the drumstick leaves stir fry and dal. Thank you very much for the blessings.
🙂
Hi swathi healthy & tasty recipe.Easy way to give drumstick leaves to kids,every children likes potato☺,I made this recipe last weekend my 2 years old daughter ate the curry without knowing it that i add those leaves.I used to make drumstick leaves dal only before.Thank you looking forward for more healthy recipes
Welcome Uma
Happy to know your kid liked it. Yes do try healthy recipes. I have shared a lot.
Thanks for writing
Thank u for the recipe.
. Instead of potatoes we can also use soaked dals like moong dal or boiled alasandalu.
Welcome lakshmi
yes we can also use any dal or chickpeas too
Love to have green always. Healthy recipe.
Healthy yummy combo,love it
looks so gorgeous and tempting..
Very healthy and tasty stir fry preparation. Perfectly paired with potatoes.<br />Thanks for sharing.
healthy stir fry…nice combo..
Healthy and delicious stir fry.. looks great!!
muringa with potatoes sounds really interesting… looks yum…
looks so tempting
Very healthy dish.
Swathi Garu,
Pls.advise the best way to overcome the bitterness of moringa leaves.
Hi Mohammed
I dont think there is any way to reduce the bitterness. If you want to consume it for health benefits. You can make a paste & add it to butter milk and consume.
Swasthi garu,
Hello from Saudi Arabia,
Outstanding tip.
Thank you very much.
Hello and welcome
Thanks for visiting!!