Murungai Keerai Poriyal / Drumstick Leaves Stirfry

Murungai Keerai Poriyal / Drumstick Leaves Stirfry

Murungai keerai poriyal is what I love from my childhood. One of our neighbours used to make raagi koozhu / porridge during the Tamil month of Aadi. They used to make dry-fish kuzhambu and murungai keerai poriyal along with this porridge. I loved that raagi koozhu/poridge along with this murungai keerai poriyal. Anyone who had this raagi porridge with murungai keerai poriyal or dry-fish kuzhambu will know what an unique country-food combination it is.

People make murungai keerai poriyal either with coarsely ground peanut or roasted rice powder. My favourite is the peanut powder showered keerai poriyal only.

Not too many ingredients. The greens, few garlic cloves, and little peanut powder are the main ingredients. The combination of peanuts and garlic is a magic formula. As I told you already.. we use peanut powder for lot of recipes. This is one among them. As people used to sprinkle coconut gratings as a final touch to the stir fries, we used to do with coarsely ground peanut. That is how it all began right.. people eat or cook with what ever grow and abundantly available in that locality. And that is healthy too !

Whenever I see drumstick leaves in the market or a drumstick tree in someone's house, I drool as if I am going to eat it raw. Such a nutrient laden which grows in our back yard and still least respected and included in our diet. Women should definitely include this keerai in their diet at-least once a week.
Murungai keerai poriyal is a simple, easy and quick. Let me take you to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Drumstick leaves / muringai keerai - 2 cups (pressed)
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Peanut - 2 tablespoon
• Garlic - 3 pods
• Water - 2 tablespoons

Procedure:

• Clean the drumstick leaves, rinse it in plain tap water and keep aside. 
• Roast the peanuts and make a coarse powder of it. Add the crushed garlic and whip it for 3 seconds. Thus you get a garlic flavoured peanut powder. 

• Take a pan, add 2 tablespoon of water and add the salt. Go easy with salt as the greens itself will have its salt.
• Now add the washed green to the water in the pan. 
• Cover the pan.
• Leave for 7 minutes.
• Open, and stir. Let all the water in the pan evaporate.
• Add the peanut powder and give a final stir.
• Remove from heat and serve hot with any rice.

I personally enjoy eating it as snack around 11 am. That is when I really get to taste the actual flavour of murungai keerai. 

I feel that if i eat this stir-fry as side with some food, we do not chew them properly hence all the goodness is not harvested.

Now.. go ahead identify and cook and serve the goodness hidden in the plants around us !

Happy cooking !!