Murungakkai Porichakootu (Drumstick Dal)

 Drumstick has a unique aroma which makes any dish to which it is added very scrumptious and flavorful .We have a drumstick tree at my mom's place and every trip of mine to Coimbatore ensures a big bundle of drumsticks parceled back to Chennai.So the following fortnight in my house has a lot of dishes which includes drumsticks .One such delectable and succulent dish is this murungaikai porichakootu or drumstick dal. There are two versions of this recipe and the one here is my mother in law's version and it is my hubby's favourite too.

It is very simple yet delicious and goes well with a bowl of hot plain rice and a spoon of ghee.Soon I will give my mom's version too.

Preparation time:30 mins

Serves:4

Ingredients:

Drumsticks cut to 2 inch pieces -3 nos

Cooked Toor dal or pigeon peas -1 cup

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Hing or asafetida-1/2 tsp

Salt -to taste

Oil(coconut oil or sesame oil)-1 tbsp

Fresh coriander leaves-few to garnish 

To be grind to a fine paste:

Grated coconut-5 tbsp

Red chillies-3(increase or decrease according to your spice level)

Green chillies-1(optional)

Jeera or cumin -1 tsp

To temper :

Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Jeera or cumin-1/2 tsp

Urad dal -1 tsp

Curry leaves-few

Procedure:

1.Grind the items given above for grinding to a fine paste.

2.Boil the drumsticks in a wok with 2 cups of water along with hing,turmeric powder and salt.

3.Once the drumsticks are soft and succulent add the cooked and mashed toor dal and the ground coconut paste.

4.Keep the fame low and let the kootu boil for 8-10 mins.Then switch off the flame and add the ingredients given for tempering in oil .After the mustard splutter add it to the murungaikai porichakootu or drumstick dal.

5.Serve hot with plain rice and papad or it tastes good even with rotis.

Tips:

*Do not cook the drumsticks in pressure cooker as it looses texture.

*You can add snake gourd(pudalangai) or avaraikkai(Lima beans) to this poricha kootu along with drumstick.
*You can increase or decrease the red chillies based on your spice level and as they are the only source  which gives some heat to this dish.