Murungakka Porucha Kozhambu / Drumstick In Lentil Coconut Sauce

Drumstick is a very healthy vegetable. It adds great flavor to anything that you use them in. At the local Indian store I was very happy to find some tender drumsticks.This was because the tender kind is hard to find in the stores. So, I bought some with the intention of making porucha kozhambu. Porucha kozhambu is very popular in Tamil cuisine. It is basically cooking the veggies in a coconut lentil sauce without the addition of tamarind. This is very comforting, flavorful and delicious over a bowl of cooked rice. If you have some left over toor dal  in the fridge, then it is  a  perfect kozhambu to make with ease. It goes perfectly well with sautéed veggies and lentil papad. For dinner, I served murungakka porucha kozhambu over rice, with (sautéed) beans curry, cucumber pachadi (south Indian Cucumber Raita) and oman appalam (Ajwan Papad). 

Gadgets:

Saucepan

Frying Pan

Blender

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Cutting Board

Knife

Ingredients:

Drumstick - 4 cut into 3 inch sticks. If using frozen add 12 pieces.

Cooked Toor Dal - 1 cup 

Udad Dal - 1 fist 

Dry red chilies - 3 or 4 ( if you can handle more spice please do add extra)

Fresh Coconut Grated - 3 tbsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - a few

Salt

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp

Water - 4 cups

Preparation:

1. Boil 3 1/2 cups of water in the saucepan. Add some salt and the drumsticks and allow for the drumsticks to cook well. 

2. In the frying pan heat 2 tsp of oil. Add the udad dal, red chilies and cumin seeds and roast the udad dal to golden brown on medium heat. Remove from heat and transfer to the blender. Add fresh coconut and blend with 1/2 cup of water to a paste.

3. Add this paste to the cooked drumstick and allow for the paste to cook with the drumstick a few minutes. The udad dal in the paste will thicken the sauce.

4. Add cooked toor dal and mix well. Bring to a boil on medium heat. If it thickens too much, add 1/2 cup of water to bring it to sambar consistency.

5. Heat the frying pan with 1 tsp oil, asafoetida and mustard seeds. Allow the seeds to pop, toss in the curry leaves and add this to the cooked kozhambu. Serve hot with rice.