Drumstick Pepper Dhal

Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) is a kind of vegetable that is shaped like a drumstick and so this name! This vegetable is rich in vitamins and minerals,especially the leaves that are very rich in nutrients. Moringa oleifera is commonly found in South of India which is mainly used in sambar ,sometimes made into a pickle because of its special and unique flavour.

This recipe is an old recipe which my mother used to prepare and has very little oil and is spicy because of black pepper corns. It can be made less spicy too. It is prepared in combination with dhal/lentils to make it more nutritious.

Following recipe is adequate for four or five people.

Ingredients	Quantity
Drumsticks	3
Tuvar Dhal	½ cup
Red Chillies	2
Black Pepper Corns	1 tsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Mustard Seeds	1 tsp
Black Gram/Urad Dhal	1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing	a pinch
Curry Leaves	a few
Water	3 to 4 cups
Oil	1 tsp
Salt	to taste

Method

1. Wash the drumsticks and chop them into three inch pieces and steam them in the microwave or boil them with water seperately and keep them aside.


2. Roast the tuvar dhal in a pan till light brown and add cuminseeds, pepper corns and one red chilly and fry. Cool this.


3. Grind this dhal mixture in a grinder with water to a fine paste.It can be liquidy.


4. Add salt and mix it.


5. Take a pan and add the steamed drumsticks and dhal paste and add some more water and heat it on slow fire till the dhal is cooked. More water can be added as this absorbs a lot of water.


6. Remove the pan from the heat and put it in a serving bowl.


7. Take oil in a small pan and add the seasonings like the urad dhal,mustard seeds hing and last curry leaves and fry till the mustard seeds crackle.


8. Add this seasoning into the dhal and serve hot with hot rice or chappatis.