This flavorful Moringa pod curry is prepared with the pods of the moringa tree.
This is a vegan, gluten free and low carb moringa pod vegetable curry gravy with coconut recipe.
Prepare this original curry from Goa with the basic curry paste.
Yes, Moringa is a vegetable.
In this world, there is a tree known as Moringa and it produces elongated, thin seed pods.
These pods taste amazing, kind of like asparagus and green beans.
Moringa trees grow mainly in Asia and especially in India and Thailand.
The Moringa Pods are frequently used in local dishes.
Each part of the tree finds use, the vegetable moringa pods are most commonly used in moringa pod curries and stir-fries.
The leaves and roots can be used as well.
Most probably you have heard of Moringa somewhere before.
In fact, Moringa is considered a superfood in the western hemisphere.
Moringa tree leaves are dried and pulverized to be sold as a compressed super food dietary supplements.
Tree leaves in India and South East Asia are inexpensive, the trees often while grow wild.
People in these countries, however, have not labeled the moringa tree leaves or pods as a superfood.
The Moringa pods are considered a delicacy.
I fell in love with this strange vegetable the first time when I had this Goan moringa pod curry because the taste of a moringa pod reminded me a bit of asparagus.
The pods are hard, woody and sturdy on the outside.
The flesh, when cooked, is soft on the inside and dissolves on your tongue.
Because of the length, it is necessary to cut the Moringa pods into smaller pieces.
We also peel them a bit at first to remove some of the woodiness, however, when cooked in any dish, the smaller pod pieces can’t be directly eaten.
After cooking, the moringa pod pieces tend to slightly fall apart.
You take a piece with your fingers and take off the flesh with your teeth or tongue.
I know there is some work involved but trust me, it’s totally worth it!
Serve the moringa curry with:
- Plain Rice
- Lemon Rice
- Cilantro Rice
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Moringa Pod Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 piece Moringa Pods
- 1-2 Tablespoons Oil
- 1 small Onion sliced
- 1 piece Chili Pepper optional
- 6-8 piece Curry Leaves optional
- 1 Tomato diced
- 1 1/2 cups Goan Red Curry Paste
- 2 1/2 cups Water mixed with concentrated Stock
- pinch Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
Instructions
- Wash your moringa pods properly and cut them a bit to make it easier to manage. Peel the moringa pods partially to get rid of some of the outer toughness.
- Then cut the moringa pods into 2-inch pieces. Try to cut so that the bulby seeds are in the center of each cut moringa pod.
- Heat up a shallow pan with the oil and fry your onions soft. At this point, you can also add the green chili and curry leaves (which are both optional).
- Then keep on stir cooking and add the tomato pieces, as well as the moringa pod pieces. Stir cook for a minute or two on medium to high heat.
- Now you can add the curry paste. Mix it all well.
- At this point, you can pour in the water mixed with the concentrated stock (or just packet broth). Give it a good mix again.
- Season with salt and add the tomato paste.
- Mix it all again and cook covered for about 18 minutes.
Notes
- Use fresh moringa pods, they should be firm and green. You can buy them in your local Asian specialty store.
- You can add fresh green chili pepper to add some heat to the dish
- Try to get fresh or dry curry leaves, they add a lot of flavor to the dish.
- Moringa Pods are also known as drumsticks. I’m avoiding this name because it gets confused with chicken legs.
- Only use the red Goan curry paste for this curry. Anything else (such as Thai curry paste) won’t be the same.
Nutrition
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What a delicious recipe. Made it with a simple chick pea curry and badass bondas and it was amazing!
Came across moringa in several dishes when travelling around India and Sri Lanka for 9 months. I’ve walked past it in my local ethnic shop for 10 years because I didn’t know what it was called and what to look up for a recipe. Found a picture in a cook book recently and googled it for recipes. This is the first one I tried and it took me right back to hot humid days, palm trees, vibrant colours, long hard journies made worthwhile by amazing food at the end of them.
I added a dash of vegetarian fish sauce to balance the sweet of the coconut, the heat of the chilis and the tang of the tamarind.
Thanks for some lovely memories.
Hi Simon, Thank you for sharing your feedback and memory with us. You got me thinking that I should try the same base curry with chickpeas soon, it sounds delicious as well! I think so most of us see exotic vegetables but often while we don’t know how to use them, so we don’t try them until somebody introduces us to them, just as in the case of moringa. 🙂
btw the addition of fish sauce sounds brilliant, gotta try this soon!
What a very interesting vegetable. I’ve never heard of a moringa pod nor the Moringa tree. Headed to look that up. Even with this unknown ingredient, your curry dish looks wonderful. I can smell it through the computer screen. 🙂
This curry sounds amazing! I have never heard of moringa before so I will keep an eye out for it!
This would be a completely new food, for me. I’ve got some of the oil and powder but have never seen the pods. Very interesting,
Interesting recipe. It’s not easy to buy these in the UK, you need a good ethnic food store near you
I’ve never heard of this vegetable! But is there an alternative that would work as well because I know my grocery store definitely does carry it but the sauce sounds great!
Heather, you could use preboiled/canned Asparagus which you add at the end of the cooking. Asparagus and Moringa pods have a very similar flavor.
I haven’t heard of moringa. How informative. This looks good.
What an interesting recipe! This is the first time I am reading about moringa. Thanks for the information!
Well, that’s a new one on me — I’ve never heard of Moringa before, but your curry looks absolutely mouthwatering. I’ll be on the lookout for this super food in our markets…
I know so many people who would love this. My FIL rarely gets curry, but he loves it (he rarely gets it because his wife doesn’t care for it), so if I make it for him he’ll love it!
Hi Helene
May I suggest a variation of your moringa preparation ? My mother who was born in Mapusa used to prepare moringa with shrimp and grated coconut.
1. Th epods were cleaned and cut in 2-3 pieces.
2. Grate some coconut,, some sliced onions, garlic, green chillies. and some
tumeric or curry powder
3. Stir fry the grated coconut,onion, garlic, green chillies. Then add some
freshly cleaned shrimp, a dash of salt . Add some water SPARINGLY and
let it cook under low fire untill the moringa pods are tender..
Hi Carlo,
Thanks for sharing your mothers dish with us. That’s a moringa pod stir fry and I was planning to share this in the coming months here too. It’s another favorite of ours which we love to serve with curry and rice. However, your version includes prawns which of course sounds even more enticing! 🙂
Moringa isn’t that easy for me to buy, but fortunately, I live close to a couple of ethnic grocery stores that carry it. This looks wonderful! Never met a curry I didn’t like. 🙂
Oh really you guys get moringa pods there? That’s awesome news John! =)
I have never had moringa…but do love anything greens and that curry sauce sounds totally irresistible, Helene.