Family: MORINGACEAE
A small (to 8m tall and 3 m wide), deciduous tree, native to India. It is both drought and frost tender.
The long bean - like fruit is used in soups and curries. The young leaves and twigs have a mustard flavour and are eaten in salads. The immature seeds are used like peas, the mature seeds are roasted or fried and eaten like peanuts. The root is used like horseradish. Young tender seedlings are cooked as a vegetable. The leaves contain 7 - 10% protein.
The fruit produces a seed which yields an oil which never goes rancid. Called behen or ben oil it is used for salads and for cooking.
The oil is also known as watchmakers oil because of its use in delicate precision machinery.