Drumstick pod

Moringa oleifera · Vegetable

40 pairings

The drumstick pod is the long, slender immature fruit of the moringa tree (Moringa oleifera), a fast-growing tropical tree native to the foothills of the Himalayas in north-western India. Cooked while young and green, the ribbed pod is a staple of South Indian and Sri Lankan cooking — most famously in sambar and drumstick curry — where the soft inner pulp and seeds are scraped from the fibrous skin.

Picking a good onedrag

Slender, green, snaps cleanWoody, seedy, drying brown

Shop greenThe sambar pod: parboil, then curry. Draw each piece through the teeth for pulp and seeds and discard the skin — fibre, not poison.Everyday best

Skin and seed bumpsGreen, seed bumps showing down the ribs

The bendSnaps, but the break shows strings

Cut endCut face drying, pulp still white

Smell at the cutGreen and neutral, almost nothing

What to look for, from slender, green, snaps clean to woody, seedy, drying brown.

What one gives you

52%

Usable yield

pulp and seeds · USDA refuse 48%, the hard outer covering and fibers

Preparing