Thinai-Murungai-keerai-Urundai

#ThinaiMurungaikeeraiUrundai  #FoxtailMilletDrumstickLeafBall :
Three or four days back I made ghee from butter and as usual finally added drumstick leaves into the simmering hot ghee. Drumstick leaf - Murungai keerai has to be added at the end to get an aromatic ghee. Everyone likes the crispy drumstick leaves fried in ghee and also its aroma. Then I transferred the ghee into a container. Usually I used to make kesari in the vessel in which the ghee was made. But this time I wanted to prepare something different and healthy. Suddenly an idea struck me, and I thought if I include ghee fried crispy murungai keerai to make a sweet urundai then the sweet would be a healthy snack and everybody would consume murungai keerai without any complaints. Then I decided to make the sweet with jaggery. I know from my previous preparations that Thinai and jaggery combination goes well and loved by all. That is why I have decided to prepare a tasty jaggery sweet from thinai and murungai keerai.

 #FoxtailMillet is known as #Thinai [ தினை ] or #thinaiArisi [ தினை அரிசி ] in Tamil. It belongs to minor #Millet.
The botanical name is Seteria italica.

All millet [ kodo, foxtail, finger. proso, pearl and little millets ] are gluten free and show high antioxidant activity.
Foxtail millet may help in controlling blood sugar and cholestrol.
Foxtail millet is a very good source of protein, iron, significant amount of calcium and other minerals.
It is also rich in fiber compared to other cereals.

To know more on Millet :

Millet


Nutrients of Millet

Thinai is sweeter in taste and more suitable for preparing sweet dishes.
#Murungaikeerai [ #DrumstickLeaf or #MoringaLeaf ] is rich in protein [ 9.4 g per 100 g of raw leaves ], 
vitamin A [ 378 ug per 100 g of raw leaves ], 
minerals especially calcium [ 185 mg per 100 g of raw leaves ] and 
iron [ 4 mg per 100 g of raw leaves ]. 
The amount of vitamin A present in murungai keerai is 4 times that of carrot. It doesn't loose much of its nutrients even when the leaves are cooked on high temperature.
After learning about health benefits of foxtail millet  [ thinai ] and murungai keerai  I am sure what I am going to present here would be a healthy sweet snack.

Ingredients :
3/4 cup	Foxtail Millet
1/4 cup	Green gram split
3 - 4	Cardamom
3 - 4	Dates Dried [ Sultana or raisins ]
5 - 6	Cashew nuts
1/3 cup	Murungai keerai
small piece	Nutmeg
1/2 cup	Jaggery
A pinch	Salt
4 - 5 Tsp	Ghee

Method :
Break cashew nuts into small pieces.
Chop dried dates into small pieces.
Pluck murungai keerai from its stem and wash.
Pat dry with a clean & dry cloth.
Set aside.

Heat a kadai on a stove over medium flame.
Dry roast thinai [ foxtail millet ] till it gives out aroma.
Transfer into a plate or bowl and set aside.
Now in the same kadai add split green gram and dry roast till it turns golden brown color.
Transfer into a plate/bowl.
Allow to cool down.
Take roasted thinai, split green gram, cardamom, nutmeg and salt.
Grind into a nice flour using a mixie grinder.
Transfer into a bowl and keep aside.

Heat kadai on stove over a low flame.
Add 1 Tsp of ghee and roast chopped dried dates [ sultanas ] till it turns golden color.
Transfer into bowl containing the flour we made earlier.
In the same kadai add another teaspoon of ghee and roast cashew nuts till it becomes golden color.
Transfer into the same bowl.
Again in the same kadai add 2 teaspoon of ghee and roast murungai keerai on slow fire till the leaves become crisp and brittle.
Take care not to allow the leaves to change its color.
Transfer into the same bowl.
Mix well and allow to cool down.

In the meantime take jaggery in a vessel and add 2 Tbsp water.
Heat on slow flame till it dissolves completely in water.
After dissolving jaggery boil it for 2 minutes and turn off stove.
The jaggery syrup should be thick and no need to check consistency.
Add 3 Tbsp of jaggery syrup into the flour mix and mix well with a long spoon.
Then knead with hand into a soft dough and if required add some more jaggery syrup.
Divide the dough into small portions and make into small urundai [ balls ] after dusting hand with rice flour.
Neatly arrange in a clean and dry container with lid.
Enjoy tasty, healthy and yummy thinai murungaikeerai balls!!!

It can be stored for a week in normal temperature.

You might like to try 

Thinai fruit custard [ Foxtail millet fruit Custard]

Thinai Payasam [ Foxtail illet Payasam

Aval [ Rice flakes ]  Kesari

Sorghum Dosai [ Chola Dosai ]

Brown top  millet bread

For other Thinai [ Foxtail millet ] Recipes

Foxtail Millet - Thinai Recipes 

For other Millet Recipes

Millet Special

Murungai-keerai-Vazhai-thandu-Poriyal

#MurungaiKeeraiVazhaithanduPoriyal  [ #DrumstickLeafBananastemPoriyal ] : Nowadays I am experimenting different combo poriyals and curries to get the goodness of all the vegetables and greens. This poriyal is a combo of vazhaithandu [ banana stem ], carrot and murungai keerai and carrot. Murungai keerai and carrot are full of vitamin A and vazhaithandu being a diuretic with lots of fiber.

Ingredients :
1 cup	Murungai keerai [ drumstick leaf ]
6 - 7 cm long	Vazhaithandu [ banana stem ]
1 Tbsp	Carrot grated
1 small size	Onion, chop thinly
2 Tbsp	Coconut scrapping
1	Green chilly
1	Red chilly
1/2 Tsp	Mustard seed
1 Tsp	Black gram split [ urad dhal ]
1 Tsp	Oil
3/4 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]

Method :

Take 6 - 7 cm long vazhai thandu [ banana stem ]

Peel off skin lengthwise.

Cut one circular piece horizontally ( cross cut ) and you could see fibers holding the piece onto the stem. Remove those fibers by pulling out that piece from the stem. 

Wind the fiber onto your fore finger.

Again cut next piece, pull out and remove fiber. Repeat the procedure to remove fiber from the stem.

Place all the circular pieces of the stem in a very thin ( watery ) butter milk or simply in plain water to avoid decolorization of vazhaithandu pieces .

Now chop all the pieces into long thin pieces ( julians ) and again put in the same vessel containing water or thin buttermilk.

Wash murungai keerai two or three times in a wide mouthed vessel with water.
Chop it and set aside.

Heat kadai on a stove over low to medium flame with oil.
Crackle mustard seeds and then add broken pieces of red chilly and urad dhal.
Slit green chilly lengthwise and add once urad dhal turns golden color.
Now add onon and saute for half a minute.
Add vazhaithandu and carrot.
Saute for a minute.
Then add chopped murungai keerai and required amount of salt.
Mix well and close with a lid.
Cook till murungai keerai becomes soft.
Adjust salt and add coconut.
Toss well with ladle and turn off the stove.
Transfer into a serving bowl.

A spicy n tasty murungai keerai vazhai thandu poriyal ready.
It goes well with sambar and rasam rice.







You might also like to try

vazhaithanduporiyal [ banana stem stir fry ]

vazhaithandu paruppu poriyal

vazhaithandu vazhai poo thayir pachadi

vazhaithandu thayir pachadi

beetroot vazhaipoo poriyal

For Stir fry and dry curry

Curry Index

For Dishes related to Lunch

Lunch Index

For variety of Dishes

Recipe Index

Coriander-Seeds-Drumstick-Leaf-Powder

#CorianderSeedsDrumstickLeafPowder : Many children and even some adults do not like to eat #greenleafyvegetable.  Somehow the greens have to be included in the daily diet of those people in some way. So the greens can be dried in the shadow and made into a tasty powder along with other condiments.
Wash drumstick leaves thoroughly and spread on a clean and dry cloth. The excess water will be absorbed by the cloth. Transfer the leaves over to a clean and dry plate. Allow to dry in the shadow or inside the house for three to four days or until the leaves become brittle. this can be stored in an air tight container for future use.
 Here let us see a powder which can be relished by mixing with rice using #Drumstickleaves and #corianderseeds to get the nutrients of #Drumstickleaves.

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup	Coriander Seeds
1/2 Cup	Drumstick Leaves[murungai keerai] dried
3 or 4	Red Chilly [adjust]
1 Tsp	Salt [adjust]
3 or 4 cloves	Garlic
1/2 Tsp	Oil

Method :

A week before doing this powder get 1 cup of drumstick leaves.

Wash 2 or three time and drain water completely.

Spread on a clean and dry cloth in a corner of your house to remove excess water.

Allow the leaves undisturbed for a day.

The next day transfer the leaves on to a clean and dry plate.

Keep it inside the house in open condition for 3 to 4 days or until the leaves completely lose its water content and become brittle.

Start doing the powder following the method given below only after the leaves are brittle.

Heat a kadai on a stove with 1/2 Tsp of oil over slow flame.

Roast coriander seed stirring continuously with a ladle.

Add red chilly also along with coriander seeds.

Roast until coriander seeds give out a very good aroma.

Transfer on to a plate.

Dry roast salt to remove water content of it.

Turn off the stove and add dried drumstick leaves.

Keep in the hot kadai for 2 to 3 minutes only.

Then transfer on to the plate along with coriander seeds.

Take roasted coriander seeds, roasted red chilly and salt in a mixie jar.

Make into a coarse powder.

Then add drumstick leaves and grind into a fine powder.

Finally add garlic with skin intact and grind for few second.

Now the aroma of the powder must have hit your nose!!

Healthy tasty aromatic Coriander drumstick leaf powder is ready.

Take hot white rice in a plate and add one or two teaspoon of freshly prepared coriander drumstick powder.

And over it pour a dash of gingelly oil and mix well with hand.

Relish with sambar or vatha kuzhambu.

You might also like to try

Coriander powder - Kothamalli podi

Flax seeds powder for rice

Flax n poduthalai powder for rice

Curry leaf powder - Karuveppilai podi

Pepper [ milagu ] powder

For some more Powders

Masala Powders and Liquid mixes


Ideas for different dishes for Lunch

Lunch recipes

Ideas for breakfast and dinner

Tiffin recipes

Murungaikeerai Rice

#DrumstickLeaves Rice - #MurungaikeeraiRice : Murungai keerai is called drumstick leaves in English. The scientific name is Moringa oleifera.

Drumstick tree finds a place in the back yard of each and every house in my native place, Tamil Nadu.
I brought some stem cuttings from my place and planted around my home in Raipur. Green shoots came out two or three times but withered away within a week. Then planted three small saplings given by one of our friends during last monsoon. Those three trees have grown up so well and now I use the leaves regularly in my food.

Murungai keerai - Drumstick leaves

The most nutritious part of drumstick tree is its leaves. The leaves are packed with the most valuable vitamins such as Vitamin B, C and A and minerals like Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium. The point to be noted is that Murungai keerai retains its nutritional value even after cooking.
These leaves are very good for mouth & stomach ulcers and also to get rid off other skin diseases.
Fresh leaves as well as dried powder of these leaves are being recommended to combat malnutrition among children and nursing mothers.

These leaves should be used in our regular diet at least twice a week in any form. Murungai keerai can be used for garnishing sambar [ when hot ] just like coriander leaves which makes it more tasty and gives a nice flavour to it. Koottu [ lentil ] can be prepared with green gram or thuvar dal. One more delicious and tasty recipe is paal saaru. Paal saru is prepared using coconut milk, a great remedy for mouth and stomach ulcers just like Manathakkali keerai Paal Saaru. We have already seen the recipe of  Murungai keerai Paal Saaru.

Here let me present a simple and nutritious rice dish using this green leafy vegetable and coconut milk.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup                           Raw Rice
1 Tsp                              Cumin seeds
8 -10                               Pepper
1 or 2                              Red chilly [ adjust]
15 - 20                            Garlic, finely chop
1                                     Onion, slice thinly
1 cup                              Murungai keerai - drumstick leaves [ adjust ]
1 cup                              Coconut milk
3/4 Tsp                           Salt [ adjust ]
2 Tsp                              Gingelly oil

Method :
Wash rice once with water in a vessel and soak in water.

Heat a pressure cooker with oil and splutter cumin and black pepper.
Immediately add broken pieces of red chilly and garlic and saute for a minute.
Then add onion and saute until it turns pink and gives out nice aroma.

Drain water completely and add rice keeping the flame at high.
Saute for 30 seconds over high flame.
Then reduce the flame and saute until rice turns bright white.

Finally add murungai keerai and saute for few seconds.

Now add coconut milk and salt.

Mix well. Close the lid with weight on.

Pressure cook for a whistle keeping the cooker at high flame.
Then reduce the flame to SIM position and cook for 5 minutes.
Open the cooker only after the steam has completely subsided.

Tasty & healthy Murungai keerai rice ready.

Enjoy with a spicy kuruma or thayir pachadi.

Other tasty rice varieties you might like to try :