Cook Share and Feast

Drumsticks in English is a vegetable that is very common in Sri Lanka and South India.  In Tamil it’s called Murungai Kai and the botanical name is Moringa Oleifera. As its name in English – Drumstick, the vegetable is long and slender that looks like a green stick.  Each drumstick can grow up to a foot or so. 

In Sri Lanka Drumstucks/murungai kai is not only used to make curry, it’s also added to sambar, or made into kulambo (gravy) or even made as a murungai kai paal curry (white curry).

The leaves of Moringa tree is used in cooking as well and in the  traditional ayurvedic medicine.  The flowers are small and have yellowish-white petals that is used in traditional Indian cooking as well. 

Drumsticks in English is a vegetable that is very common in Sri Lanka and South India.  In Tamil it’s called Murungai Kai and the botanical name is Moringa Oleifera. As its name in English – Drumstick, the vegetable is long and slender.  Each drumstick can grow up to a foot or so. 

The leaves of Moringa tree is used in cooking as well and in the  traditional ayurvedic medicine.  The flowers are small and have yellowish-white petals that is used in traditional Indian cooking as well. 

Traditionally this curry is cooked quite spicy. Another thing to note is, when cooked in a clay pot the flavors get enhanced and brings out the unique taste of this vegetable.

In Sri Lanka we eat this curry with rice as well as pittu or stringhoppers (idiyappam) . You can check the recipes for pittu and idiyappam by clicking on these words.

Today I have made the murungai kaai curry with jackfruit seeds. It’s common to add jackfruit seed to murungai kaai curry as well as payathangai curry. But the jackfruit seeds should be peeled and half boiled prior to adding to the vegetables that are being cooked.

Ingredients:

• About 4 murungai kai (drumsticks)
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• About a teaspoon tamarind thick extract or ½ teaspoon tamarind paste
• ¼ cup thick coconut milk
• ¼ cup half cooked jack fruit seeds thickly sliced vertically
• Salt to taste

For tempering:

• 1-2 tablespoon coconut oil
• ¼ teaspoon mustard seed
• ¼ cup sliced red onion or shallot
• 2-3 cloves garlic sliced thinly
• 2-3 dried red chili broken into small pieces
• Few curry leaves

Method:

• Cut drumsticks into 3-inch-long pieces and then split them vertically
• In a covered saucepan add drumsticks, water, chili powder, salt and water and cook for about 10 minutes. 
• Add coconut milk, jackfruit seeds, tamarind extract, curry powder and cook for further 10 minutes or the gravy thickens
• In a skillet add coconut oil and add the mustard seeds.  Once mustard seeds start spluttering, add onion and garlic and sauté until golden.  Add curry leaves and red chilies and sauté for another minute or two
• Add the tempered onion mixture to cooked drumsticks and mix well
• Serve warm with rice or puttu

Yields: 3 services as a side dish

Note: If you don’t have curry powder, you can simply grind the following ingredients in the ratio mentioned below:

• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• ½ teaspoon cumin seed
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seed

Dry roast all of the above and grind to a powder