Munakkaya Pulusu - Drumstick cooked with Tamarind

Dear Foodies,


I only recently realized that our Indian store stocks frozen drumsticks, and from then on I get a pack of these every time we go grocery shopping. We use it in Sambar and Pulusu, this one above is Munakkaya Pulusu. The difference between Sambar and Pulusu, is that the latter either has no dal in it or very little dal unlike Sambar.

Will be back with the recipe in awhile :-)

I wanted to write about the different tamarind based dishes that we make in our house, but I haven't been able to manage time for that. So I am going to directly jump to the recipe and reserve that thought for another post. This pulusu is extremely easy to make, you will know once you see the ingredients list itself !! I myself was a bit stunned while writing it down and tried hard to see if I missed something ..hehe. All it needs is some tamarind extract, a veggie and some sambar powder. Just leave it to boil to all its glory and its ready to serve :-)

Ingredients:

• 5-6 nos - Drumstick pieces, 3" in size

• Golf ball sized Tamarind, pulp extracted or 2 Tbsp - Tamarind Extract

• 1 1/2 Tbsp - Sambar Powder

• 1 tsp - Turmeric powder
  

• Salt to taste

• 2-4 cups - Water

• 1 tsp - Oil

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  

• 1-2 nos - Dried red chillies

• 2 tsp - Rice flour

Procedure:

1. Microwave the tamarind in a cup of water and extract the pulp.
   
2. In a vessel, take 2 cups of water and add the tamarind extract and allow it to boil. Also add salt, sambar powder and turmeric powder. If using fresh drumsticks add them to the water and cook. Since I used frozen ones which turn soft when thawed, I added them after the tamarind water came to a boil.
3. Once the tamarind has lost its raw smell check to see if the tangyness of the pulusu is to your taste and add water accordingly.
   
4. To make the pulusu thick, mix a spoon of rice flour in 2 Tbsp of water and add to the tamarind water and allow to boil.
5. Do the popu/tadka by heating the oil, add the mustard seeds, once they pop add the red chillies and turn off the heat.
6. Add this to the Pulusu and serve hot with rice or chapatis !!

Notes:

• You can use okra, pearl onions, bottlegourd and make a similar pulusu. The okra and onions will have to be sauted in oil before adding the tamarind water.