Drumstick Dal (Shevgyanchya shenganchi amti)

Shevgyanchya shenganchi amti (drumstikc dal) is one of the famous maharashtrian recipe. This dal should be eaten hot hot with rice and ghee. In south drumstick and its leaves are one of the vital ingredients used for the daily cooking.

But there is another traditional use of Drumsticks that not a lot of people know of - water purification.

What do we do when we get murky water from taps, we generally boil it, sediment the larger particles and then filter the water using some cloth. This is how it is done in most lower class and even in some middle class homes. However, this wastes lot of cooking gas which is a privilege in most Indian homes. Our ancestors had a simple solution to the problem of water filtration - adding a little bit of powder obtained from drumstick seeds. In a matter of minutes, the drumstick particles binds to the dirt and sediment the dirt down. This process also reduces the bacterial load by 90.00% to 99.99% 

Here goes the recipe.
Ingredient
Drumstick - 1 or 2 drumsticks cleaned, peeled and chopped in 2" pieces
arhar dal (tuvar dal) - 1 cup
tomato - 1 chopped

green chilli - 1 or 2 slit
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
dhaniya jeera powder - 1 tsp
asafoetida - a pinch

ghee - 1 tsp

Goda masala (optional) - 1 tbs
water - if required

salt - to taste

For tempering
Ghee - 1 tbs
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 spring
asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
garlic -  4 to 5 flakes crushed with cover


Garnishing 
Fresh chopped coriander - handful


Method
Boil the tuvar dal along with turmeric, green chillis, salt, asafoetida until the dal is well cooked.

Once dal is done heat ghee in a kadhai, add mustard, jeera, asafoetida, curry leaves and garlic now immediately pour the dal over the tempering and close the lid. This step allows the aroma to stay within.Now add the red chilli powder, dhania jeera powder, tomatoes, goda masala and mix it properly. I have a dal ghotni in my house which was given by my MIL it becomes very handy and mixes the dal properly. Add water if the dal is too thick along with the drumsticks and salt if required. Let it boil on medium flame. Once the drumstick turn soft add the coriander and serve with hot rice and ghee.