Moringa leaves

Moringa oleifera · Leafy green

40 pairings

Moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera) are the small, rounded leaflets of the drumstick tree, one of the most nutrient-dense leaf vegetables in the world. Eaten across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in dals, soups and stir-fries, they carry an outsized load of protein, provitamin-A carotene, vitamin C, calcium and iron, and are far more widely cooked than the tree's better-known seed pods.

Picking a good onedrag

Cut sprigs, leaflets gripping the rachisYellow, shedding, sour at the tie

Shop freshThe fresh bunch, not the dried powder: strip the leaflets off the stems for dal, sambar, thoran or tinola.Everyday best

The leafletsGreen through, a scatter of pale leaflets

The shakeOne or two come loose into the bag

Rachis and cut endStalks green, the cut end drying and browned

Smell at the bunchGreen and grassy, the prickle nearly gone

What to look for, from cut sprigs, leaflets gripping the rachis to yellow, shedding, sour at the tie.

What one gives you

62%

Usable yield

leaflets only · USDA refuse 38%, the stems

Preparing