For long it has been all fishy dishes, so thought of sharing Veggie dish. For the Maharashtrians Pithla is no new dish , an old traditional fast to cook dish it is. Almost each house has it own variation to this dish. Here’s one rendition which I used to hate as child and now cannot stop eating it. Well I cooked this during the weekdays hence my regular visitor Ballu could not relinquish it, while Pillu is already gone so neither he got a share of meal.
Ingredients :
3-4 pods of Drumsticks
quarter Tbsp Asafoedita
half Tbsp Mustard seeds
3-4 Garlic Cloves
3-4 Green Chilies
Half Tbsp Turmeric
Half Tsp Chili powder
1 cup Gram Flour (besan)
1tbsp Carom seeds (Ajwain)
2 cups of Water
Salt to taste
Procedure :
Take the gram flour in a bowl, to it add the turmeric, chili powder, Ajwain and salt. Mix well and add water to his mixture to form a dough thinner than what is prepared for pakoda. Set this dough aside for appx 10 min. See to that there are no granules formed in the dough. In mean time cut the chillies and make appx 1 inch long pieces of the drumsticks. (Make sure u wash them before you cut them)
After 10 min heat 2 -3 Tbsp of oil in pan , add to it Mustard seeds, once the spluttering is done add cut Garlic cloves chopped green chillies and asafoetida. To this add the dough and mix it all well. Lower the gas flame and add the cut Drumstick pieces, keep stirring. This mixture shall get thicken hence keep adding water as per need. ( for thinner peethala more water for thicker lesser). Cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes while stirring periodically. The final dish should not have any taste of raw uncooked besan taste. Normally people boil the drumsticks separately but I prefer cooking them with rest ingredients, takes lil longer but tastes better.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Normally its served with Maharashtrian Bhakri (Indian bread made of Jowar or Bajra), Well absence of both I ate it with Chappatis.
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