Sesame Meal and Moringa oleifera Leaves Ready to Cook Curry Mix: An Ethnic Food of Godavari Districts in Andhra Pradesh, India

Sesame meal was widely consumed in Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, India which was not known to most of the people and under-utilized. Moringa leaves were another nutritious food that is also under-utilized and not available in urban areas. The aim of this work was to develop the sesame meal and dried Moringa leaves as a ready to cook curry mix by assessing the ratio of sesame meal and dried Moringa leaves as to determine the best closer fresh leaves and sesame meal blend. The Moringa leaves were treated with citric acid, and potassium meta bisulphite to retain the colour and dried by different techniques such as shade drying, solar drying and drying in Ezidri food dehydrator at 60, 50, 35ºC. The leaves dried in Ezidri food dehydrator retained more colour and nutrients. The dried leaves were used to prepare curry with sesame meal taking fresh leaves as a control in the ratio 1:2. The dried leaves and sesame meal were taken in the ratio 0.1:1, 0.12:1 and 0.14:1, prepared samples were evaluated for sensory characteristics and compared with the control sample. The curry prepared in the ratio 0.12:1 is best accepted and close to the control sample. The nutritive value shows Sesame meal and Moringa leaves were the best cheapest sources of protein, calcium, iron, potassium and vitamin A.