Moringa leaves or powder is a powerful antioxidant, rich in proteins, minerals, amino acids and flavunoids. They help to lower blood glucose levels, fight inflammation and helps treat chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and so on. Moringa leaves are abundant in Kerala homes but to people who live in cities or who don't get fresh moringa leaves, the powder form is a good option to add to the regular foods. These days, organic and otherwise marketed moringa powder is heavily on demand as is considered one of the super foods. And when you have the fresh leaves at home, it's always better to dry up and stock up for the whole year.
We have plenty of fresh leaves in our native place but away from home, I don't get these fresh leaves every time and so decided to dry up the leaves which is much easier and handy. The drying needs no direct sun and no many efforts too. Check it out, and please do stock it up too if you have fresh moringa leaves in your backyard.
Method
- Inspect the leaves for any small insects/ spiders, shake off. Wash the leaves under running water and remove any yellow leaves.
- Pat the leaves with a paper towel to dry up the excess moisture. Pluck out the big branches and keep the smaller stems. Spread and leave under the fan (don't dry under the sun directly as the leaves don't retain the colour or shade dry). I personally prefer drying at room temperature as these leaves are very thin and hardly need much time to dry.
- I have not removed the smaller stalks beforehand, as they can be just hand-picked after it's left at room temperature overnight or 5–6 hours. After 6 hours, shake off the smaller stems as the leaves just shrinks and falls off. Collect only the leaves and discard the smaller stems.
- Spread the leaves and leave at room temperature for another 2 days till it's dry and crisp.
- Store the dried leaves in dry bottles or powder in a blender jar & store. I haven't sieved, but you can always sieve & use.
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