Vegetables · Leafy greens

Moringa leaves

Tiny oval leaves of the drumstick tree, cooked into curries, soups and stews or dried to a powder.

Also called: drumstick leaves, moringa, zogale, horseradish tree leaves, malunggay, nebedaye

Around the world: zogale (ha) · feuilles de moringa (fr) · nebeday (wo)

Photo: Pandakekok9, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0-1.0)

What it is

Moringa leaves are small, round-oval, bright-green leaflets on feathery stems from the drumstick tree, whose long pods are also eaten. They are stripped from the stems and cooked like a green. The dried powder is sold widely. Not to be confused with horseradish, though the tree is sometimes called horseradish tree.

Moringa oleifera

How it’s used

Stir-fried with coconut (thoran, poriyal)
Added to dals and sambar
In Filipino tinola and soups
Stirred into West African sauces
Dried and powdered into dishes

Characteristics

Taste: Grassy and slightly bitter, like a peppery spinach.
Texture: Tender small leaves.
When cooked: Wilts quickly; add near the end of cooking.
Sold as: fresh, dried, powder
Cooking uses: Commonly cooked, Suitable for boiling
Common in: South Indian, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Nigerian, West African, Ethiopian, Indonesian