During my walks, I often spot moringa flowers scattered along the sidewalks where the trees are. I feel tempted to pick them up, but I usually don’t, not knowing how clean they are. That’s why I’m so grateful for the flowers that fall in our own terrace garden, where we grow a moringa tree. These flowers are delicate, clean, and easy to collect.
If you have a moringa tree at home, one simple way to collect the flowers is to spread a clean cloth under the tree the night before. By morning, you’ll find them ready to gather. Just like how some people collect mulberries or other fruit that falls naturally. It’s an easy practice and one that helps avoid waste.
Using moringa flowers in food is something I’ve been wanting to do more of. They’ve been a part of traditional Indian cooking for generations, but today, they’re often forgotten or underused. This recipe is a way to bring them back in a form that’s easy, familiar, and tasty.
Why These Ingredients?
This cutlet recipe combines moringa flowers, quinoa, beetroot, boiled potatoes, and fennel seeds, all whole, plant-based, and easy to digest. The idea came from wanting to create more quinoa-based recipes, since many people ask for ideas beyond the usual grain bowls or porridges.
Moringa Flowers
These delicate blossoms are not just beautiful, they’re loaded with calcium, potassium, and antioxidants. In Ayurveda, moringa flowers are known to support digestion, enhance reproductive health, and balance pitta and kapha doshas. They’re often used to gently cleanse and strengthen the system.
To prepare them, it's best to blanch them, which means briefly boiling them for a minute or two in hot water, then drain them into an ice bath. This softens the texture, removes any bitterness, and makes them easier to digest.
Quinoa
Quinoa is light and gluten-free, but still a complete protein, meaning it has all nine essential amino acids, something rare in the plant world. It's also rich in fiber, magnesium, and B vitamins.
Important tip: Rinse quinoa several times before cooking to remove saponins, the natural coating that can taste bitter and cause digestive discomfort for some people.
Beetroot and Potato
The beetroot adds color and gentle sweetness, while potatoes provide creaminess and grounding energy. Together, they balance each other out. Potatoes often get dismissed, but when prepared whole and simply, they’re a great source of potassium and energy, very stabilizing.
Fennel Seeds
Fennel helps ease digestion and brings a light sweetness to the mix. It’s especially helpful in balancing heavier ingredients like potatoes.
You’ll find all of these ingredients including the fresh moringa flowers, organic quinoa, and fennel seeds, available at Vibrant Living.
The Recipe: Moringa Flower & Quinoa Cutlets
This is a simple, wholesome recipe that makes about 8–10 cutlets.
Ingredients
- 1 cup moringa flowers, cleaned and blanched
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked
- ½ cup puffed quinoa, for coating
- 1 medium beetroot, roasted or steamed and grated
- 2 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- ¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt, to taste
-
Cold-pressed coconut or sesame oil, for pan-frying
Method
1. Prepare the Ingredients
Clean and blanch moringa flowers. Rinse and cook quinoa, after washing thoroughly to remove saponins. Roast or steam beetroot, then peel and grate. Boil and mash potatoes.
2. Mix the Base
In a large bowl, combine quinoa, beetroot, potatoes, moringa flowers, fennel seeds, ginger-garlic paste, green chilli, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Mix well until evenly combined.
3. Shape the Cutlets
Form into small flat patties. Press each side into puffed quinoa to give it a light, crispy coating.
4. Pan-Fry
Heat a cast-iron or heavy pan with a little oil. (I usually season the pan with onion or okra first.) Cook the cutlets on medium heat until both sides are golden brown and crisp.
5. Serve
Best served hot with a fresh chutney, like mint, coriander, or beetroot hummus or even a little seasoned vegan yogurt.
Serving Suggestions
These cutlets are:
- Great for kids snacks or lunch boxes
- Tasty as a plant-based burger patty
- Easy to serve with a grain bowl or millet rotis
- Perfect as a light meal or starter with dips
Why This Recipe?
This dish is a good example of how we can use local, seasonal ingredients in simple and useful ways. It brings together both traditional and modern ingredients—moringa flowers and quinoa and turns them into something familiar, like a cutlet.
At Vibrant Living, we’re always trying to reconnect people with clean, whole foods not in a complicated way, but in a way that feels doable and satisfying. This recipe reflects that.
All Ingredients, One Place
You can find everything you need for this recipe fresh moringa flowers, organic quinoa, puffed quinoa, spices, and more at Vibrant Living. These are ingredients we trust and use ourselves.
Shop Our Pantry ➝
Order a Cooked Vibrant Living Meal ➝
Final Thoughts
There’s no need to overthink seasonal food. When you find something like moringa flowers, just use them simply and respectfully. Don’t let them go to waste if you have access to them.
This recipe is one way of making sure nature’s offerings are used well and nourishing us, not just in terms of nutrients, but also through our connection to where food comes from.
If you make these cutlets, share them with someone. They’re not fancy, but they’re real food. And that matters.
Let us know what way you use moringa flowers in your cooking, we would love to hear it.
