NutriThrive
Moringa vs Curry Leaves: Two Different Leaves, and Which One Your Recipe Needs
Moringa leaves and curry leaves both turn up in South Indian, Sri Lankan and Filipino cooking, and both get called by several names, but they come from different plants and do different jobs in the pan. Here is how to tell them apart, a name decoder for both, and what to buy in Australia when you can't get fresh.
Quick answer
- Different plants. Moringa is Moringa oleifera, the drumstick tree. Curry leaf is Murraya koenigii, a small tree in the citrus family.
- Different jobs. Moringa is a leafy green you cook into a dish. Curry leaves are an aromatic you fry in hot oil (a tempering, or tadka).
- Not swappable. One won't stand in for the other. Plenty of South Indian meals use both.
Moringa leaf powder: 100g $11 · 200g $21.50 · 400g $35. Free AU shipping at $79.
If a recipe asks for drumstick leaves and the person at the shop hands you curry leaves, you're not the first. Both are small green leaves on a stem, both are everyday ingredients in South Indian and Sri Lankan cooking, and both have a handful of names. One recipe writer puts it plainly: “Don't confuse it with curry leaves (kadipatta)! They look somewhat similar from a distance but have completely different flavor profiles and uses” (eathealthy365). We grow both on our farm, so here is the short version from our kitchen.
Side by side: moringa powder and dried curry leaves
In the pantry, the two look nothing alike. Moringa usually comes as a fine green powder, because the leaflets are tiny and easy to dry and grind. Dried curry leaves usually come whole, because their job is to go into hot oil as leaves.
Cooking with both? Combo pack $17: 100g moringa and 30g curry leaves.
The plants: leaf shape and smell
Moringa. The leaves are small and oval to rounded, and they grow on a feathery stalk that branches three times (botanists call this tripinnate) (Know Your Indian Food with Zohara). The same tree gives the long “drumstick” seed pods. Raw leaves taste mild, green and a little peppery, closer to spinach once cooked. The dried powder tastes grassier (Cuisinopedia).
Curry leaves. These are glossy and pointed, 10 to 20 small leaflets to a sprig. Crush one and the smell settles it: green and citrusy raw, then toasty, nutty and savoury once they hit hot fat (herbsandspices.food). Despite the name, they aren't the main ingredient in curry powder. That's a separate mix-up, covered in curry leaves vs curry powder.
Name decoder: what each leaf is called
| Language | Moringa leaves | Curry leaves |
|---|---|---|
| English | Moringa leaves, drumstick leaves | Curry leaves |
| Tamil | Murungai keerai | Karuveppilai |
| Malayalam | Muringayila | Kariveppila |
| Hindi | Sahjan (sahjan patte) | Kari patta (kadipatta) |
| Telugu | Munagaku | Karivepaku |
| Kannada | Nugge soppu | Karibevu |
| Gujarati | Saragvo | Mitho limdo |
| Sinhala | Murunga kolle | Karapincha |
| Filipino | Malunggay | , |
Sources: Cuisinopedia, Zohara, eathealthy365, herbsandspices.food and the University of Melbourne’s Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database, which lists murunga kolle for the leaves (murunga on its own is also used for the pod). A dash means we couldn't find a reliable name. One more trap: on its own, “drumstick” usually means the pod, not the leaf. If a recipe says drumsticks, it wants the long green pods.
Which one does my dish need?
| Dish or step | Leaf it calls for | How it's used |
|---|---|---|
| Tempering (tadka, thalipu) | Curry leaves | Fried for 10 to 20 seconds in hot oil with mustard seeds, then poured over the dish |
| Upma, poha, lemon rice, coconut chutney, kadhi | Curry leaves | In the tempering oil |
| Murungai keerai poriyal, muringayila thoran, murungai keerai adai | Moringa leaves | The leaves are the main ingredient |
| Tinola (Filipino chicken-ginger soup) | Moringa (malunggay) | Stirred in near the end of cooking |
| Sambar | Often both | Moringa leaves cooked into the lentils, with a curry-leaf tempering to finish |
| Rasam | Often both | Murungai keerai rasam uses moringa leaves, usually finished with a curry-leaf tempering |
| Podi (dry chutney powder) | Either | Munagaku podi uses moringa leaves; curry leaf podi uses toasted curry leaves |
A note on powder. Where the leaves are the star, like poriyal and thoran, moringa powder can't copy the soft texture of fresh leaves. Some cooks say to skip powder altogether in traditional dishes (eathealthy365). Where moringa is one part of a soup or dal, a spoonful of powder gives you the colour and the green flavour. Our moringa leaves guide has a powder-for-fresh swap table with starting amounts.
Can you swap one for the other?
No, and it's worth knowing why. Curry leaves earn their place through aroma: the oils come out in seconds in hot fat. Moringa does nothing like that. It's a green, closer to spinach than to a herb. Going the other way, curry leaves won't give a pot of tinola or sambar the leafy body that moringa does. If you've run out of curry leaves, our curry leaf substitute guide covers what actually helps. If you can't find fresh moringa, leaf powder or dried leaves are the practical stand-ins, and the moringa swap table shows how much to use.
Buying both in Australia
Fresh moringa leaves are hard to come by here. Our 7 October 2026 search of Woolworths turned up no fresh or frozen moringa leaves, and the frozen moringa packs we found at Indian grocers were drumstick pods, not leaves. Curry leaves are easier to find, but fresh sprigs only last a week or two in the fridge (herbsandspices.food). That's why many Australian kitchens keep moringa powder and dried curry leaves in the pantry.
- Moringa leaf powder: 100g $11 · 200g $21.50 · 400g $35 (four 100g pouches, $8.75 per 100g). Grown on our farm, shade-dried, tested in Australia in Australia (lab summary PDF) and packed in Truganina, Victoria.
- Dried curry leaves: 30g $7, grown on our farm. Dried leaves are gentler than fresh, so use a few more than the recipe says for fresh (herbsandspices.food suggests two to three times as many).
- Combo pack: $17 for 100g moringa and 30g curry leaves, both in one order.
- Gift pack: $35 for Darjeeling tea 100g, curry leaves 30g, a handmade moringa and lavender soap, and moringa powder 100g, if you're cooking for someone else.
Stocking up? Two 400g moringa bundles ($70) plus a combo pack ($17) come to $87. That's 900g of moringa and 30g of curry leaves, and it clears free AU shipping at $79. Orders placed before 2pm on a weekday go out the same day. Want to try both in one dish first? Our 30-minute curry leaf dal is a good start, and if you've never tasted moringa, read what moringa powder tastes like.
FAQ
Are moringa leaves and curry leaves the same?
No. Moringa leaves come from Moringa oleifera, the drumstick tree. Curry leaves come from Murraya koenigii, a small tree in the citrus family. They look a little alike from a distance, but they taste different and do different jobs in cooking.
Is murungai keerai the same as karuveppilai?
No. Murungai keerai is the Tamil name for moringa leaves. Karuveppilai is the Tamil name for curry leaves. Many South Indian kitchens use both, often in the same meal.
Can I use moringa powder instead of curry leaves?
No. Moringa powder won't give you the toasty, citrusy smell that curry leaves release in hot oil. If you're out of curry leaves, see our curry leaf substitute guide. Keep moringa for dishes that call for moringa or drumstick leaves.
Is malunggay the same as curry leaf?
No. Malunggay is the Filipino name for moringa, the leaf that goes into tinola. Curry leaf is a different plant.
Does sambar use moringa or curry leaves?
It can use both. Murungai keerai sambar cooks moringa leaves into the lentils, and sambar is usually finished with a curry-leaf tempering. Plenty of sambar recipes use curry leaves only.
Are drumsticks the same as drumstick leaves?
They come from the same tree, but they're different parts. Drumsticks are the long seed pods, cooked as a vegetable in dishes like sambar. Drumstick leaves are the small leaflets, which is the part that becomes moringa leaf powder.
- 10 Oct 2026: Article published.
Written by Neer Vasa, NutriThrive founder.
Keep both in the pantry
Moringa powder, from $11
Shade-dried leaf powder packed in Truganina. Dried curry leaves are $7, or both come together in the $17 combo.
$35.00 / 400g