Broccolette mung dal masala/ Broccolette lentil curry

         Broccolini or broccolette is a hybrid of broccoli and chinese kale (gai lan). It has smaller florets and longer slender stem than broccoli. The whole vegetable is edible, we just have to trim its end and cook. We can use broccoli instead of broccolini too.

        Our good neighbors introduced this veggie to us. I tried different recipes using it, in this recipe i cooked broccolini with spices and mung dal/mung lentil (de-hulled and split mung beans)

tasty dish!

Ingredients:

1 lb          broccolette

2 cups      moong dal 

1              tomato 

1              onion  

2 tsp        sambar powder

2 tsp        chilli powder

1/4 tsp     mustard seed

few          curry leaves

2 - 3 tbs   oil

3 tbs        chopped cilantro/ coriander leaves

salt to taste

* sambar powder can be substituted with curry powder. We can find sambar powder in most Indian stores. 

Method:
1. Cook moong dal in 3 cups of water. When the water starts to boil add 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp oil and cook until soft, keep it aside

2. Trim the ends of  broccolette and cut it into 2" pieces. Chop onion and tomato.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seed. When it starts to splutter add curry leaves, onion and fry till it becomes golden brown, reduce the heat.
4. Add chilli pwd, sambar pwd and tomatoes. Fry tomatoes till the masala becomes dry, add broccolette and let it cook till soft yet firm. Add the cooked mung dal and check for salt.
5. Remove the dal mixture from heat. Transfer it to a serving dish and garnish with chopped cilantro/ coriander leaves. 

Thanks for visiting this page. Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Hav a blessed day :)

Murungai leaf kangi / Drumstick leaf and rice porridge

       Murungai tree is a common tree in Tamilnadu. We still have this tree in my parents backyard, we have it in my in law's house and  had it in our house also, before we moved to US. During my childhood days we used this leaves as our pretend keerai poriyal. My mom would give us this kangi / porridge when we were sick, usually accompanied by a pickle or dry coconut chutney. This is a very simple but nutritious kangi, i was amazed to see it's nutritional values in wikipedia! It's in the end of this post, pls read it.  

Healthy Kanji

Ingredients:
4 - 6 handfuls           murungai leaves
1 tsp                         oil
1 tsp                         ginger garlic paste  
1 cup                        uncooked rice
1 tsp                         chilli powder
1/2 tsp                      cumin seeds 
1 tbs                         ground coconut (optional) 
1                              tomato - chopped    
Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seed, fry for a few minutes and add ginger garlic paste and chilli powder, stir it well. Add murungai leaves and cook it till the leaves gets wilted, add the chopped tomato, fry till it becomes pasty remove from heat and keep it aside.

stir fry the leaves

2. In a pan boil 3-4 cups of water, add the rice and salt, reduce the flame and let it cook till the rice becomes soft, add the ground coconut.

add murungai leaves to the rice....

3. Add the murungai leaf mixture with the rice and cook till its consistency becomes like a porridge.     

yum!

Murungai leaves....

  These leaves are loaded with goodness, all the nutritional facts are from wikipedia.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. If you try this recipe, please comment on it. I like to hear how it came out.

Nutrients	Common food		Moringa Leaves
Vitamin A	Carrot	1.8 mg	6.8 mg
Calcium	Milk	120 mg	440 mg
Potassium	Banana	88 mg	259 mg
Protein	Yogurt	3.1 g	6.7 g
Vitamin C	Orange	30 mg	220 mg

drumstick leaves

The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, being a significant source of vitamin B₆, vitamin C, provitamin A as beta-carotene, magnesium and protein, among other nutrients reported by the USDA, when compared with common foods particularly high in certain nutrients, fresh moringa leaves are considerable sources of these same nutrients. Some of the calcium in moringa leaves is bound as crystals of calcium oxalate which may inhibit calcium availability to the body. The leaves are cooked and used like spinach. In addition to being used fresh as a substitute for spinach, its leaves are commonly dried and crushed into a powder used in soups and sauces. It is important to remember that like most plants heating moringa above 140 degrees Fahrenheit will destroy some of the nutritional value.link about this leaves in wikipedia

Drumstick leaves = malongai leaves = Munaga aku = Sargavo leaves = Murinna leaves = Sevaga leaves = Sohanjana leaves, these are some of the names for murungai keerai in other languages.

Thanks for visiting this page. Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Hav a blessed day :)