MURUNGAI KEERAI PORICHA KUZHAMBU

MURUNGAI KEERAI PORICHA KEZHAMBU

I hope you are keeping safe wherever you are. The coronavirus is wreaking havoc all over the world. Like millions of others, with the lockdown in place, we have been voluntarily staying at home. Stay home, stay safe!

We bloggers always like to have a pipeline of dishes to ensure a flow. They come in handy when we have to skip making a new dish for whatever reason. Today's post therefore is of a dish that I made several weeks ago and has been retrieved from this pipeline!

I make a number of dishes using drumsticks, which as you would know are called : Mashingasaang in my mother tongue, Konkani; Shevgyacha Shenga in Marathi, Sahajan in Hindi, Murungakkai in Tamil, and Nuggekkai in Kannada.

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for Potato & Drumsticks Upkari, and Magge Mashingasaang Koddel, which are popular dishes in our GSB Konkani cuisine and Shevgyachya Shenganche Pithla from Maharashtrian cuisine.

We also make dishes using drumstick leaves which are called Murungai Keerai in Tamil, Mashinga Palle in Konkani and Nugge Soppu in Kannada.

I have recipes with drumstick leaves in this blog such as Mashinga Palle Sanna Polo and Nugge Soppina Rotti.

Drumsticks or Moringa as they are also called, have numerous health benefits too.

Today's recipe is for a side dish from Tamilnadu cuisine and has been adapted from Murungai Keerai Poricha Kuzhambu by Subbu's Kitchen.

We had this for lunch with steamed rice and it tasted great!

Ingredients:-

• Murungai Keerai (Drumstick Leaves), 2 cups tightly packed
• Toor Dal ( Split Pigeon Peas) , 1/2 cup
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 3 tsp ( 1 tsp for roasting + 1 tsp for sautéing + 1 tsp for seasoning )

Grind Together To A Paste:-

• Byadgi Red Chillies, 3 ( to be roasted) 
• Peppercorns, 1 tsp ( to be roasted) 
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 1/2 cup
• Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp
• Raw Rice, 2 tsp ( soaked) 

For Seasoning:-

• Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp
• Urad ( Black Gram) Dal, 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves, a sprig

Method:-

Wash and pressure cook 1/2 a cup of toor dal with a pinch of turmeric powder in adequate water for 3-4 whistles
Allow the cooker to cool and remove the cooked dal. Mash the cooked dal and keep aside
Soak the raw rice in water for about 10 minutes
Remove the drumstick leaves from their stems, wash and chop them
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and on medium heat roast the Byadgi Red Chillies and the peppercorns
In a small mixer jar, grind together the fresh coconut gratings, roasted red chillies, peppercorns, cumin seeds along with the soaked rice to a smooth paste adding just the required amount of water
In a thick bottomed kadhai heat 1 tsp of oil and on medium heat add the drumstick leaves and a little turmeric powder and sauté for 1 minute
Add 1 cup of water and cook for about 5 minutes
To this add the cooked and mashed door dal and the ground paste and mix well
Add water as required to get the right consistency and salt to taste
Bring this to a boil and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Switch off the gas.
In a small pan , heat 1 tsp of oil and on medium heat add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the urad dal and sauté till the dal changes colour
Next add the curry leaves and sauté for a few seconds
Pour this seasoning on to the Kuzhambu
Transfer to serving bowl
Serve the Murungai Keerai Poricha Kuzhambu hot with steamed rice