Brinjal-Drumstick Sambhar (Gulla Maskasange Kolmbo)

Brinjals/ Eggplant are in season these days. Ironically, whenever I found a nice plump Eggplant, the freshly plucked Drumsticks were out of sight and vice-versa and that prevented me from making this Sambhar for the longest time. Finally, the day dawned and I found them both at the local Indian store and I was darn happy. This is a variety of Sambhar I grew up eating. Incidentally, this is my Dad's favorite dish and he enjoys this Sambhar served with cooked white rice along with Papad and Vodi.

In India, my parents use a special variety of Brinjal known as Gulla which is available only for a short time during particular months of the year in Udupi/ Mangalore region and surrounding areas. Since I can't find them here, I use the purple skinned Brinjal also known as Japanese Eggplant. Gulla is Eggplant, Maskansang is Drumstick hence Gulla Maskasange Kolmbo.

Another interesting thing about this dish is the vegetables cook quickly, all you need is boiled Toor Dal to put everything together. This in turn helps me save a lot of time and on a busy day it matters quite a lot. 

~ Gulla Maskasange Kolmbo ~

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Eggplant (diced into big chunky cubes of 2") - 5 cups
Boiled split Pigeon Peas/ Toor Dal - 2 and 1/2 -3 cups

Sambhar Powder/ Kolmbo Pitti - 2 tbsp

Drumstick (peeled and cut into 3" sticks) - 2 cups

Asafoetida - 1/5 tsp

Tamarind pulp - 1/2 tsp

Salt

For Seasoning - 

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Ghee/ Oil

For Garnish -

Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 3-4 tbsp

Method:

Rinse the vegetables, trim off the tip and stem of eggplant. Dice them into large chunks of 2" pieces. Peel the Drumstick with a peeler to get rid of the thick green fiber and cut them into sticks which are 3" long. Cook the vegetables with lightly watered down boiled Toor Dal. Bring to boil and simmer on low flame, covered with lid on till par-cooked.  This takes around 5-8 minutes.

Once par-cooked, add salt, add Sambhar powder, and tamarind pulp in little warm water. Mix well to get a smooth paste, add this paste to the boiled vegetable-daal broth - adjust salt, spice level, add asafoetida and adjust consistency as desired. Simmer for few minutes till completely cooked. Turn off flame and set aside.
In a small frying pan, heat few spoons of oil, season with mustard seeds and once they splutter  add curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the freshly made Sambhar and garnish with chopped Coriander leaves. Mix few minutes before serving, goes well with cooked Basmati Rice.

Drumstick In Spicy Coconut Paste ~ Goan style (Shengya cho Ros)

Drumstick Ros or Shengya cho Ros is a Goan style dish. I got this recipe from one of my dear friend from Goa. Later, I tried experimenting this recipe with different vegetables each time and the result was pleasing. If you ask me the taste is a cross between Marathi style Amti and Konkani style Ghashi (konkani style masolu based curry). If the flavour appeals you, you could experiment the same gravy with different vegetables - Drumstick, Radish, Potato, etc. The gravy is simple and the most common one, however owing to vegetables cooked in gravy, the outcome is flavourful and tasty. This is a frequently made curry at my home and we all love the flavour with different vegetables soaked in this gravy.

As my friend mentions -

"The Ros version of curry is a coconut based one with seasoning of curry leaves and mustard. One can be liberal with the choice of vegetables and experiment with vegetables such as Radish, Drumstick, Potato. This is a preferred way of cooking a side dish especially during summer time for lunch menus in my home.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Drumstick - 10-15 pieces

Coconut grated (fresh) - 3/4 cup

Red Chillies - 4-5

Tamarind pulp - 1 teaspoon

Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Salt

Water

For seasoning -

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 4-5

Oil/ Ghee

Method:

Clean, wash and remove one layer of Drumstick skin. Pressure cook the sticks to 3-4 whistles. In a separate pan, heat oil and saute the Red chillies and Coriander seeds. Turn off flame and allow to cool. Grind along with grated coconut, turmeric powder and salt. Add this paste to the cooked Drumstick and bring to boil. Simmer on low flame, adjust salt and water, once completely cooked turn off the flame. In a frying pan, heat oil/ghee, add mustard seeds once they begin popping, and add curry leaves towards the end. Pour this seasoning on the curry and cover with a lid. Mix while serving along with warm rice along with a teaspoon of ghee dunked on top.

Tip: This gravy goes well with different vegetables - substitute the vegetables of choice as per taste and preference. Use fresh Drumstick as much as possible; I tried one version with frozen and the taste was not that great. Fresh ones available at ethnic grocery stores are very apt for this recipe.

Drumstick (Mashingaa Saang/ Maska Saang/ Shevgyaa chya Shengaa) - An Essay

Drumstick - a delicious vegetable is in season now. The tree belongs to 'Moringa' family. During summer time, the Drumstick flowers are in full bloom and the local markets are adorned with the slender, long stems; some markets even sell the leaves and the edible flowers which can be used for various culinary treats. The Drumstick stem, leaves and flowers are abundatly used in my home for various delicious dishes.

The Drumstick tree grows to a tall 10-15 metre height. The branches of the tree are spread out and the leaves are tiny, greenish with a very strong aroma upon plucking. The tree is primarily well known for the green pods popularly known as Drumstick (English), Shevgyaa chya Shengaa (Marathi), Nuggekayee (Kannada), Maskaa Saang/ Mashingaa Saang (Amchi GSB Konkani).

The tall, slender green pods of the fruit of Drumstick have a soft, slimy pulp which is very tasty. The Drumstick pods taste good when they are tender. The Drumstick can be chopped and used for various curries, sambhar or simply fritters as per choice. The green skin of the drumstick has to be lightly chopped off to expose the light green surface area of the pod. They cook very easily and change color to dark green upon cooking. The leaves are also used for various dishes ranging from Subji's to curries. The flower of the tree (Phool in Konkani) can also be tweaked and used as per taste. Only the white flowers and white buds are used for edible use. The tree is widely cultivated and harvested for edible use in various pockets of Central America, Africa and Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia et al.

The nutrition value of the Drumstick cannot be undermined. The bark, green pods, leaves and flowers have ample curative properties including being rich source of Iron, Potassium, Beta Carotene and Vitamin C. Special mention needs to be given to the Drumstick leaves which is a storehouse of nutrition and is endowed with lot of curative elements.

[Picture courtesy credit - Wikipedia for Drumstick Flower - (as stated in the Creative Commons Contract)]