Category: Moringa

Moringa – the Miracle Plant # 5

This is the continuation of my internet surfing on the Miracle Plant- Malunggay ( Moringa). The Culinary uses below:

Culinary Uses
The fruit of the tree is quite popular as a vegetable in Asia and Africa. The fruit is a long, thin pod, resembling a drum stick. The fruit itself is called drumstick in India and elsewhere. Moringa leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, particularly in the Philippines and Africa.
India

The moringa pod is known as drumstick or saragwa or saragwe in India. In South India, it is used to prepare a variety of sambar and is also fried. It is also preserved by canning and exported worldwide. In other parts of India, especially West Bengal and also in a neighboring country like Bangladesh it is enjoyed very much. It can be made into varieties of curry by mixing with coconut, poppy seeds and mustard. It can just be boiled, until the drumsticks are semi-soft and consumed directly without any extra processing or cooking. It is used in curries, sambars, kormas, and dals, although it is also used to add flavor to cutlets, etc.
Tender drumstick leaves, finely chopped, make an excellent garnish for any vegetable dishes, dals, sambars, salads, etc. One can use the same in place of or with coriander, as these leaves have high medicinal value. If the pulp has to be scraped out after cooking the sticks, then keep the pieces as long as 4-5 inches long. Also do not scrape the skin before boiling. This will help to hold and scrape them more easily and with less mess. For drumstick sambar follow recipe for traditional sambar, adding boiled drumstick fingers, along with onions in the oil, while stir frying.
Scraped drumstick pulp can be made into drumstick bhurtha, more or less like the baingan bhurtha after the pulp has been obtained. It is a wonderfully unusual and tasty dish. The recipe is identical to that of baingan bhurtha.
Drumstick dal, is also a very tasty version of the traditional ‘toor dal‘. Add some of the pulp to the boiled dal, and hand beat it along with the dal before seasoning. This will give an unusual, novel flavor to this dal. In another variation you may add pieces of boiled drumstick including the water in which it was boiled, to the traditional toor dal while it is simmering. The pieces are delightful to chew on with the dal & rice. In addition to being known as Drumstick Dal, the South Indian version which is a spiced lentil soup is more popular by the name – sambar or sambhar. Sambar is usually cooked with toor dal, drumsticks and other locally grown vegetables. The spices used typically in this stew are turmeric, chili powder and cumin among others. It is eaten with rice just like the Drumstick dal.
I think it’s quite interesting and it’s easy to plant and cultivate. Posts are still coming…
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Moringa – the Miracle Plant # 4

I did another internet surfing about cultivation and on how to plant the seeds of this Miracle Plant that I was talking about. I really love searching because I really missed this kind of green leafy vegetable since we came here in Thailand. Here’s what I’ve found:

THE CULTIVATION

In the Philippines, the plant is propagated by planting limb cuttings 1–2 m long, from June to August, preferably. The plant starts bearing pods 6–8 months after planting but regular bearing commences after the second year. The tree bears for several years. It does not tolerate freezes or frost. It can also be propagated by seed. As with all plants, optimum cultivation depends on producing the right environment for the plant to thrive. Moringa is a sun and heat loving plant. As a seedling, however, you must monitor the environment in the beginning until the tree is established. Seeds can be germinated year round.


Soil
Moringa needs well draining soil. Increase the drainage of your soil by adding perlite or other porous substance.

Planting seeds
Plant an inch from the surface of the soil, cover and tamp gently.

India is the largest producer of moringa with an annual production of 1.1 to 1.3 million tonnes of tender fruits from an area of 380 km². Among the states, Andhra Pradesh leads in both area and production (156.65 km²) followed by Karnataka (102.8 km²) and Tamil Nadu (74.08 km²). In other states, it occupies an area of 46.13 km². Tamil Nadu is the pioneering state insomuch as it has varied genotypes from diversified geographical areas, as well as introductions from Sri Lanka. – [3]

Moringa is common in India, where its triangular, ribbed pods with winged seeds are used as a vegetable crop. It is particularly suitable for dry regions. The drumstick can be grown using rainwater without expensive irrigation techniques. The yield is good even if the water supply is not. The tree can be even grown on land covered with 10-90 cm of mud.

Moringa is grown in home gardens and as living fences in Thailand, where it is commonly sold in local markets. [4] In the Philippines, moringa is commonly grown for its leaves, which are used in soup. [5] The leaves (called dahon ng malunggay in Tagalog or dahon sa kamunggay in Cebuano) are commonly sold in local markets. Moringa is also actively cultivated by the AVRDC in Taiwan. The AVRDC is “the principal international center for vegetable research and development in the world. Its mission is to reduce poverty and malnutrition in developing countries through improved production and consumption of vegetables.”

Interesting? More posts coming…

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Malunggay (Moringa) the Miracle Plant # 3 -Aid for Malnutrition

This is my 3rd post in my search for Malunggay(Phil.) or Moringa (English), a miracle plant. This post talks about “Malnutrition.” You can check here for more info…
Here’s another info I’ve got:
MALNUTRITION
Moringa trees have been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. Three non-governmental organizations in particular—Trees for Life, Church World Service and Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization—have advocated Moringa as “natural nutrition for the tropics.” Leaves can be eaten fresh, cooked, or stored as dried powder for many months without refrigeration, and reportedly without loss of nutritional value. Moringa is especially promising as a food source in the tropics because the tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are typically scarce. (Jed W. Fahey, 2005)
A large number of reports on the nutritional qualities of Moringa now exist in both the scientific and the popular literature. Moringa leaves contain more Vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more Vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than bananas,” and that the protein quality of Moringa leaves rivals that of milk and eggs. The oral histories recorded by Lowell Fuglie in Senegal and throughout West Africa, who reports countless instances of lifesaving nutritional rescue that are attributed to Moringa (Fuglie, L.J., 1999, 2000). In fact, the nutritional properties of Moringa are now so well known that there seems to be little doubt of the substantial health benefit to be realized by consumption of Moringa leaf powder in situations where starvation is imminent.
Nonetheless, the outcomes of well controlled and well documented clinical studies are still clearly of great value. (Jed W. Fahey, 2005) In many cultures throughout the tropics, differentiation between food and medicinal uses of plants (e.g. bark, fruit, leaves, nuts, seeds, tubers, roots, flowers), is very difficult since plant uses span both categories and this is deeply ingrained in the traditions and the fabric of the community (Lockett et al., 2000). ”
I agree with this statements above that it can combat malnutrition because I had been a nursing mom before and I love to eat this miracle plant while feeding my babies and it has been proven to have healthy babies and moms as well.
Another post coming…
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