Drumstick Curry with Coconut Milk

Drumsticks are pretty much a staple for South Indians but it is not so with North Indians. There is a funny story about drumsticks which my husband shared with me the other day. Ironically though drumsticks are not used up north, it does grow quite well there. Apparently they are left to ripen on the trees and when they get completely dry the seeds are removed by the poor and they extract an oil from that, this was really news to me.

Now back to the story, my husband who has always been interested in cooking, decided one day to try to cook them. He got the extremely tender ones picked and got it cooked like we would cook bhindi. What was the fate of that dish, I would leave it to your imagination :-)

Ingredients

8 drumsticks,

3 medium sized onions,

2 tbsp oil,

½ tsp mustard seeds,

½ tsp fenugreek seeds,

½ tsp urad dal,

1 tsp cumin seeds,

20 curry leaves,

½ tsp turmeric,

½ tbsp coriander powder,

1 tsp red chilli powder,

Salt to taste,

1 tbsp besan,

200 ml coconut milk

Some chopped coriander leaves

Method

Peel the drumstick, ensure you only peel off the outer covering and cut them into 2.5 inch pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad dal and cumin seeds. Once they pop, add the drumsticks, turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder. Stir well and add water and salt. Let it come to a boil and lower the heat, cover the pan and cook till the drumsticks are done.

In the meanwhile mix the besan in the coconut milk. Once the drumsticks are done, add the besan-coconut milk mixture and stir well. Cook till it is thick. Garnish with the coriander leaves. Serve with rice.