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MORINGA RECIPES and PREPARATIONS


LEAF POWDER


Leaves can be dried, crushed into a powder and stored for use as a
nutritional additive to soups, sauces, etc. Although some of the nutritional
content is lost in the drying process, the powder remains an excellent
source of vitamin A. Harvest leaves, wash and let dry in an airy place out
of direct sunlight (sunlight can destroy vitamin A). Rub the dried leaves
over a wire screen to produce a powder. Vitamin A retention over long
periods may be enhanced if leaves are blanched before drying.11



As a nutritional additive, add two or three spoonfuls of powder to rice,
soups and sauces just before serving. Small amounts of leaf powder will not
have a marked effect on the taste of the sauce.



BINGA "POWER" PORRIDGE12

Finely mix together:

60g maize meal.

30g roasted bean meal (cowpea or any other bean can be used).

10g roasted groundnut meal.

5g sugar.

Moringa leaf powder.

(Meal can be obtained by running the seeds through a maize mill).




BINGA "POWER" BISCUITS

60g maize meal.

30g roasted bean meal.

10g roasted groundnut meal.

20ml cooking oil.

40ml water.

1/4 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

20g (2.5 heaped tablespoons) Moringa leaf powder.

Mix and knead all ingredients until a cohesive mass is obtained. Add more
water if needed. Oil a baking tin of about 20x20cm and press the dough into
the tin. (10g of roughly crushed groundnuts or sesame seeds can be pressed
into the surface of the dough). Cut dough into sections using a sharp knife.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 C. for 20 minutes, or until done. Store
biscuits in an airtight container.



FONIO PORRIDGE13

0.5kg fonio

1kg groundnut meal

Sugar

Salt

Milk (powdered, fresh, or condensed)

Moringa leaf powder.

Wash fonio carefully to remove any foreign matter. Boil in water for 5
minutes. Add groundnut meal and boil for an additional 20 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Add salt and Moringa leaf powder towards the end of the
boiling process. Remove pot from the fire and allow contents to cool. Eat
with sugar and milk.





GROUNDNUT AND MILLET PORRIDGE14

Millet flour

Groundnut meal

Lemon juice

Milk (powdered, fresh or condensed)

Moringa leaf powder

Mix groundnut meal with water until a uniform paste is achieved. Put paste
into a pot of boiling water (amount of water depends on whether a liquid or
semi-liquid porridge is desired). Cover and boil for 15 minutes. Mix millet
flour with water until a uniform paste is achieved (use a ratio of 3 parts
millet flour to 1 part groundnut meal). Slowly add this mix to the pot,
stirring constantly. Cover and boil for 15-20 minutes more. Add lemon and
Moringa leaf powder towards the end of the cooking process. Remove pot from
fire and allow to cool, then add milk and sugar to taste.





MORINGA FATAYA15

Wheat flour

Onions

Fish (de-boned) or hamburger

Crushed red pepper

Moringa leaf powder

Mix flour with water until a dough is formed. Roll dough onto a flat surface
and cut into squares. Combine onions, fish or hamburger, red pepper and leaf
powder together. Put a spoonful of this sauce onto the middle of each square
of dough. Fold the dough to enclose the sauce, using a fork to seal the
edges. Cook in hot oil until brown. (A simple doughnut can be made by mixing
flour and Moringa leaf powder together, then adding water to make a dough).





MORINGA JUICE16

Add a spoonful of more Moringa leaf powder to a liter of water, add sugar to
taste. Stir together. Store juice in a refrigerator.

FRESH LEAVES



Use entire Moringa seedlings or young leaves and growing tips from mature
trees. Older leaves need to be stripped from their tough and wiry central
twig. In preparing leaf sauces, dried leaf powder may be used in place of
fresh leaves. Cooking time can be reduced if leaf powder is left to steep in
water overnight.




MORINGA LEAF PUREE

It has been reported that in the Philippines, Moringa leaves are
occasionally ground into a mash, boiled and then spoon-fed to infants.17




BASIC MORINGA LEAF SAUCE18

Steam two cups of fresh leaves for a few minutes in one cup of water. Add
chopped onions, salt, butter and any other seasonings according to taste.




MORINGA LEAF OMELET19

Wash, then fry a bowl of leaves for five minutes with sliced onions, garlic
and salt. While this cooks, lightly fry minced onion and tomatoes and add
this to the fried Moringa. Stir together half a cup of this mix, two eggs
and a spoonful of any bouillon soup mix and cook.




SENEGALESE MORINGA LEAF SAUCE WITH RICE20

Collect Moringa leaves, wash, then pound them into a mash using a mortar and
pestle. Boil leaf mash in water until cooked (leaves turn a brownish color).
Add some palm oil, meat or fish (dried or smoked), and other desired
vegetables and spices (onion, red pepper, Maggi cube). Simmer until cooked.
Serve over rice.




SENEGALESE MORINGA LEAF SAUCE WITH MILLET COUSCOUS21

Collect Moringa leaves, wash, then pound them into a mash using a mortar and
pestle. Boil leaf mash in water until cooked (leaves turn a brownish color).
Pound raw groundnuts (peanuts) into a paste, add to Moringa sauce. Add meat,
vegetables and spices (onions, red pepper, Maggi cube). Simmer until cooked.
Serve over millet couscous. (In Wolof, this dish is known as "Mboum" and
among the Diola of the Casamance, "Etojay").



SENEGALESE "AKO NEBEDAYE" LEAF SAUCE22

This sauce is eaten as a soup or poured over rice or millet couscous.

500g fresh Moringa leaves.

500g raw groundnut powder.

1 small dried fish.

5 small fresh fish (yaboyes) or two pieces of any large fish.

100g of dried fish meal (kétiakhe).

1 medium onion (crushed).

1 red pepper (crushed).

3 cloves garlic (crushed).

1 Maggi cube.

Salt.



Boil leaves, discard water, add fresh water. Add both fresh and dried fish,
add salt to taste and boil again for 10-15 minutes. Remove and de-bone the
fresh fish. Add all other ingredients to the pot and bring sauce to a boil,
stirring occasionally. Return the fish to the pot and simmer the sauce for
another 10-15 minutes.




FLOWERS



Flowers, a good source of calcium and potassium, must be cooked before being
consumed. Fried, alone or with a batter, they have a taste reminiscent of
mushrooms. Moringa flowers can be mixed with any of the leaf recipes.




MORINGA FLOWER TEA23

Place flowers in hot water and let steep for five minutes. Add sugar to
taste. This tea is reportedly used in Haiti as a cold remedy.




MORINGA FLOWER SALAD24

Steam flowers, then add normal salad seasonings, oil and vinegar.




PODS



When still very young and pliable, the entire pod can be prepared and eaten
in the same manner as green beans. Older pods develop a tough exterior, but
their pulp and immature seeds remain edible until shortly before the
ripening process begins. The taste of young pods has been compared to
asparagus.25



With young pods:

1. Cut pods into 3cm lengths, add onion, butter and salt, boil in water for
ten minutes.

2. Steam the pods, then marinade in a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper,
garlic and parsley.

3. Make "mock asparagus soup" by boiling the pods until tender, seasoned
with onion. Add milk, thicken and season to taste.



With older pods:

4. Slice open the pods, boil in water until soft, then scrape out the seeds
and white flesh. Discard the rinds. The flesh may be eaten as is (add spices
for flavor) or returned to the water to make a soup. Add onions, salt and
pepper for flavor, flour to thicken.

5. A soup popular in India is made by slicing pods into 5cm lengths and
boiling in water along with lentils. Only the inside of the pod sections is
eaten.

6. Slice open the pods and scrape out the flesh, keeping the flesh intact
(lightly boiling the pods beforehand will make this job easier). Strips of
flesh can be steamed and mixed with onions and spices; strips can be fried
in oil; or strips can be added to other recipes




SEEDS



Harvest the immature seeds while they are still white in color. Twist the
pod, then with your thumbnail slit open the pod along the line. Scrape the
inside of the pod with a spoon to remove the seeds with the winged shells
intact and as much of the soft white flesh as possible. Place peas and flesh
in a strainer and wash well to remove the sticky, bitter film. At this point
the seeds can be prepared in the same way as green peas, mixed with rice in
the same manner as beans, or roasted or fried in oil to give a taste like
sweet groundnuts.





INDIAN MORINGA PEAS26

Blanch peas and flesh, drain. Remove milk from 2 1/2 cups grated coconut by
squeezing water through it 2 or 3 times. Crush 5 cm ginger root and 1 clove
garlic, divide into two portions. Mix peas, flesh, coconut milk and one
portion ginger/garlic mix with 2 bouillon cubes, 1 diced medium onion, 4
tablespoons oil and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook about 20
minutes, or until peas are soft. Fry additional 1 1/2 cups coconut until
brown. Fry remaining portion ginger/garlic in 2 tablespoons oil. Dice 2
boiled eggs. Mix everything together, heat through and serve.



ROOTS



The Moringa tree has been called the "horseradish tree" because a
similar-tasting condiment can be made with from its pungent roots. Even when
the plant is only 60cm tall, it can be pulled up and the roots harvested.
The root bark (which contains two alkaloids as well as the toxic
moringinine) must be scraped off. The interior flesh is pounded, then mixed
with salt and vinegar.



However, it can be dangerous to consume the roots too often or in large
amounts. Even though the toxic root bark is removed, the flesh has been
found to contain the alkaloid spirochin, a nerve paralyzant.27

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