Drumsticks Cooked in Roasted Mung Dal

It is not always we can find drumsticks in the market. And there in our house how the drumsticks would be dangling from the branches and when they grew in size, were broken down from the branches with long bamboo sticks and then cooked...fresh from the garden. The branches are so fragile they broke when at times the monkeys came in groups and were busy in their tandav. They jumped from branch to branch...the father monkey, the mother monkey, the children, the aunts, the uncles...hey they came, the monkey lot,  devastating most of the trees and fruits in the backyard garden. They ate the vegetables and fruits and also wasted some...maybe not their taste-worthy.

When spring came the leaves of this tree, was cooked with dal. It has a bitter taste and it was believed to be a good preventive for chicken pox. Whatever it was cooked, most of us siblings, never let Thakur (our cook) serve this. If Baba was present there was no way to make a fuss. The flowers were made into Boras...equally bitter but Ma said it was healthy.

With years of experience in my kitchen, I am happy to cook drumsticks in roasted mung dal. This dal and drumstick combination was something I tried out and it was tasty indeed. Here it is:

1 cup moong dal, dry roast till it takes a pinkish tinge. Once it cools down, wash and place the dal in the pressure cooker with 2 ½ cups of water. Add ½ tsp haldi and cook till the cooker gives out 4 whistles.

Take 4-5 drumsticks. Size them to 2 inch in length. Wash and keep them. Put to boil the drumsticks in a pan with 1½ cup water and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook till the sticks are cooked. If there is water remaining don’t drain it out.

Pour 1½ tsp mustard oil in a wok. You can use any cooking oil. Once the oil is hot add 2 tsp panch phoron and tip in 3 green chillies broken into half. Once the seeds start crackling in the hot oil pour the cooked dal into the wok. As it starts boiling add the drumsticks along with the remaining water. Add salt and sugar. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Pour some desi ghee on top.

Serve with hot rice and even tastes good with hot rotis straight from the tawa.