Murungakeerai Soup
A mid-week recipe request from a reader - Murungakeerai Soup, a variation of the thanni soup, tender drumstick leaves simmered in a lentil stock delicately flavoured with traditional spices. A must try recipe if you get a hold of a bunch of tender drumstick leaves. Drumstick leaves or moringa is an age old ingredient in South Indian cooking but has recently caught the fancy of health enthusiasts as the new superfood because it is packed with protein, vitamins and iron.
Serve it as Ayah would as a thin, strained soup garnished with the tender drumstick leaves or as a restaurant style appetiser by puréeing the vegetables in the soup. Either ways you’re bound to serve up a winner that doubles as a health food too - beats adding a spoon of insipid moringa powder to your morning smoothie, at least in my book!
Notes:
The basic recipe for a thanni soup is the same. This is an interesting variation using drumstick leaves or moringa, the new wonder vegetable.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup of murungakeerai (tender drumstick leaves)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
2 green chillies, slit (increase if you want it spicier)
¼ cup split moong dal (udaicha paasi paruppu), washed
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu /saunf)
3 cups water
Salt to taste (~2 teaspoons)
Tempering:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 inch cinnamon, broken in thin strips
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu /saunf)
1 sprig curry leaves
Method:
1. Boil the moong dal with the turmeric, water and a pinch of water in a saucepan. Cook until the dal is cooked through but still separate (not mushy), about 10-15 minutes. If you are in the habit of storing boiled dal, you can use this dal with the required amount of water.
¼ cup split moong dal (udaicha paasi paruppu), washed
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
3 cups water
2. Pick the drumstick leaves from the branch - remove any woody stems. The thin ones are ok. Wash and drain the leaves and set aside.
1 ½ cups of murungakeerai (drumstick leaves)
3. Heat up the oil in a saucepan and add the cinnamon, peppercorns and fennel seeds. Once the peppercorns stop popping, add the curry leaves. Optional: Reserve some of the tempering for garnishing the soup.
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 inch cinnamon, broken in thin strips
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu /saunf)
1 sprig curry leaves
4. Next add the picked and cleaned murungakeerai and the rest of the soup ingredients along with the dal and water and boil, partially covered until the vegetables are fully cooked but not mushy.
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
2 green chillies, slit (increase if you want it spicier)
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu /saunf)
Salt to taste (~2 teaspoons)
5. At this stage, remove from heat, taste and add salt / additional chilli if required. If you find it too spicy, turn off the flame and once slightly cool, add some milk (no more than 2-3 tablespoons) and simmer – do not boil as the milk will curdle because of the tomatoes in the soup.
6. Strain the soup and reserve some of the drumstick leaves. Completely mash the rest of the vegetables in the strainer (with a spoon), so that the soup thickens a bit. Then transfer back to the pressure cooker (uncovered), bring to a rolling boil, turn off and serve garnished with the reserved leaves and tempering.
7. Alternatively, for a restaurant style thicker soup, first pick out the chillies and peppercorns from the strained vegetables and discard (you could leave it in, but the soup will probably become too spicy). Then blend half the vegetables (or all if you want a thicker soup) to a fine purée and add back to the strained liquid and mix in. You could use a hand blender or a regular mixer-blender for this. Then transfer the thickened soup back to the pot, bring to a rolling boil, turn off and serve garnished with the reserved leaves.
Serves: 4 people
Apprentice Rating: The apprentice did not make this, but it is quite an easy recipe to make.
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