Maharashtrian Dal With Drum Sticks (Shenganchi Amati)

This is a popular Maharashtrian dal with Drum sticks, brinjal & potato. Actually if you have this tasty dal, then no need to to do other side dishes in a meal. 

हि पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून…………इथे क्लिक करा.   

Ingredients:

• Split pigeon pea (tooar dal) or spilt green gram (mung dal) – ½ cup
• Drum sticks- 3 to 4
• Potato -1 medium size (optional)
• Brinjal- 1 medium size (optional)
• Tomato, chopped- 1 medium size
• Onion, chopped- 2 tbsp (optional)
• Crushed garlic- 7-8 cloves
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds- 5 kernels (optional)
• Curry leaves- 1 string
• Home made masala or malvani masala – 2 to 3 tsp (you may use chilli powder, see notes)
• Jaggery (gud),grated- 1 tbsp or less
• Goda masala- 1½ tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Veg. oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Fresh coriander, finelly chopped- a handful

Method:

• Wash dal properly. Soak dal for 3 to 4 hours with approx. 1 cup of water. (Don’t drain this water, cook the dal in same water.) 
• Pressure cook dal till 3-4 whistles are given out. (You may cook it casserole with lid. Cook till dal become soft, but it take more time.)
• Peel drumstick properly cut vertically into 3-4 inches pieces, wash and keep aside. 
• Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. Cut brijal into 1½1 inch pieces.
• Heat oil in a casserole or kadai (wok). Add mustard seeds for tempering. When the mustard seeds begin to sputter/pop, add garlic, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves. Sauté for few seconds. 
• Add hing, turmeric powder & onion. Sauté for  few seconds. 
• Add masala and sauté for few seconds.  
• Add drum sticks, brinjal, potato and some water. Also add some salt for this veggies. Cover and cook for 5 min on low heat.
• Add tomato, fresh coriander and cook till the drumsticks and potato are almost cooked. 
• Meanwhile, open the lid of the cooker when the pressure reduces completely. Whisk well with a ladle so that the dal gets slightly mashed.
• Then add cooked dal in this mixture. Add water to adjust consistency of aamati/dal as per personal choice. 
• Now add salt (if necessary) , goda masala and jaggery. Stir it & boil for few minutes. 
• Serve hot with chapati or rice.

Notes and Variations:

• You may use 1½ tsp of red chilli powder instead of mentioned masala. But then use 2 to 3 tsp of goda masala.  
• You can use raw mango, tamarind or kokam instead of tomato. 
• You can make this type of dal with using other types of vegetables like bottle guard (dudhi), sponge gourd (turai) or pumpkin. 
• In our "Kokan" area, fresh scrapped coconut (1 to 2 tbsp) is used for garnishing. But personally I don't like this, so I don't use.
• I add coriander when dal boils because it smells and tastes good. You may garnish with it.
• You can add salt at one time.