Kimosabe commented in an earlier post that he fondly remembers the delicious dish of Katuday flowers and leaves that he sampled years ago in Malaysia. The dish was spicy and lemak, cooked with curry powder and coconut milk.
Thanks to his comment, my Filipina helper Estela V Acierto decided to concoct a mixed Katuday-Malunggay dish. The name of the dish, shortened to KatuLunggay comes from Katuday or Turi (Sesbania grandiflora) (above) and Malunggay or Drumstick (Moringa olifera) (below), using the Tagalog names of both plants.
She uses the flowers and young leaves of Katuday and the young leaves of Malunggay – see HERE for the preparation of Katuday flowers. In the video clip below, Estela demonstrates how the dish is cooked.
Recipe: Heat oil in frying pan, add sliced onions, sambal chilli and prawn paste. Add mixture of leaves and flowers, then a liberal amount of coconut cream. Remove when the vegetables are cooked. Crispy ikan bilis (dried anchovies) and groundnuts as garnish.
This healthy dish is delicious, spicy and lemak, as well as chewy (above, below).
The flowers of Katuday are eaten as a vegetable in South and Southeast Asia LINK. The stamens and styles of the flowers are first removed. They are then blanched and tossed in vinegar. Sliced onions and chillies are added as garnish. Young leaves can be eaten as a vegetable or incorporated in soups, although older ones are tough. We regularly collect the flowers and distribute them to the local Filipino community who miss their favourite salad (below).
Malunggay on the other hand is grown mainly for the young pods, cooked mostly with dahl as a vegetable curry. The pods are highly fibrous but the seeds inside are tender and delicious. Eat the seeds and “spit” out the fibres. The dish is a favourite with many locals. You can also cook with long beans, ladies finger, pumpkin etc. (below).
YC Wee & Estela V Acierto
Singapore
30th October 2018
2 Responses
I would certainly like to eat that with chapatti or steamy hot Mali Hom (fragrant Thai rice).
Sometime ago I asked a Tamil hawker cook if he would cook a a murunga keerai
(moringa leaves) curry for me if I paid him for his trouble. I would buy the leaves from Little India & bring them to him. His reply was: YES…! Sorry to say I have yet to follow this up…
Moringa pods, leaves & seeds are full of goodness. Eat the “Tree of Life” soon…!
I would certainly like to eat that with chapatti or steaming hot Mali Hom (Thai fragrant rice).
Sometime ago I asked a Tamil hawker if he would cook a murunga keerai
(moringa leaves) with dahl curry for me if I paid him for his trouble. His reply was: YES…! I have yet to follow up on this…!
Moringa leaves, pods & seeds are cheaply obtainable at the Indian provision shops in Little India. So go grab some, Google for a recipe & get busy whipping up your own curry meal.