Drumstick Leaves in Yellow Dal Curry (Muringakai Ela Parippu Curry)

Back in Kerala, at least in my sweet village, we have and love the concept of individual houses with beautiful front garden loaded with flowering plants of all kinds and an even interesting never-ending backyard brimming with home-grown produces! For this reason, an average village home daily diet often contains a lot of fresh vegetables, most of which are the leafy variety and our very own coconut, in its various forms. Drumstick tree is one of the common varieties spotted in all houses mainly because it doesn't require much of a care. Apart from the fruit of the tree, the leaves are also used widely in Kerala cooking, as it is said to have many medicinal properties.

Well, now this has made me nostalgic and if allowed some time before we get into the recipe details, here is a quick tour of my home sweet home in Palakkad. After years of city life in Kochi, my parents shifted to our native place to spend their retired life. And what best can one ask for in retirement life than what you are about to witness in the photos below! Since my husband is on a transferable job, I do not get the liberty to frequently visit or stay long in my house, but whatever little bit I have spent here has been truly inspiring moments. I often envy my sister; she lives in Kerala and can visit this paradise whenever she wants! Shared below are some of the clicks from my sister's collection. Thank you Renu for this!

The pathway that opens up to our areca nut, coconut, pepper and plantain garden!

Exclusive plantain garden, a recent addition by my father

Would you believe, if I say, our house overlooks this scenery!

Now back to business! Vizag, especially the area where we live, too has its share of greenery, however, as I have seen the best, nothing comes close to that. So the other day, I wanted to prepare Dal Dosa and back in my village, we put loads of this drumstick leaves when making it. As this tree grows wild, I asked my maid about it and she readily said she will get it for me. I was thrilled, I made the dosa many times, however, did not manage to click a pic; had I done that I would have ended up missing the fun of eating it hot and crispy. With the leftover leaf, I went ahead and made this curry.

Ingredients:

For the Curry:

Toor dal (yellow dal) - 1/4 cup, soaked, cooked with a pinch of turmeric and salt, and mashed

Drumstick leaves - 1 stuffed cup

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1/2 small, chopped

Green chilies - 2, chopped

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Salt to tate

For Tempering

Oil - 2 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaf - a few leaves

Dry red chili - 1, halved

Preparation:

1. Grind together coconut, onions and cumin seeds in a blender with very less water to make a fine paste. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and stir fry the drumstick leaves for a couple of minutes. 

3. To this add the cooked dal; add water if needed and mix well.  

4. Stir in the ground coconut paste, mix well. Check for salt and allow it cook for another couple of minutes, but not allowing the curry to boil. Check seasoning and switch off

5. For tempering, heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, and stir in curry leaf and chilies. Pour this over the curry.

6. Serve it with rice or even with roti.