Two Stir-Fried Drumstick Flower Recipes

And ... SHE Just Turned One!

Well, it has been one year since I started blogging! The baby whom I brought to this web world with lots of passion and enthusiasm is now looking frail and hopeless! So any point in celebrating her first birthday.... except the fact that SHE is still alive! Hey! Don't be so pessimistic! May I confide in you something? Though it may be hardly visible from outside, actually SHE lived a rather eventful and fulfilling life last one year and most importantly Slept Happy Everyday! Sooo there is hope! All the new places SHE visited, the new skills SHE learned, the new foods SHE tried made her happy and SHE is so much willing to share it with you.... SHE just needs to be a bit more systematic and focused .... SHE is looking forward ..... keep tuned!

Coming to today's recipes. One year back I started my blog in a spur of the moment's decision when I returned home from a friend's house with a handful of drumstick flowers .... my childhood favorite! I cooked a simple dish, enjoyed it and wanted to share the joy! That was my first post! (you can read it here)
This year when Ananthu-ji came to meet us from Shivani's house she remembered how I enjoyed those flowers and sent another bunch of flowers with him! Thank you Shivani for the treat! I was so touched by her gesture! And decided that drumstick flower is going to the first birthday post of SHE! Something humble but close to my heart!
Surprisingly this weekend when Sanjit went to the local Sunday bazaar, he saw one old lady selling some flowers on road side and immediately picked a bunch .... first-time in our nearly eight years stay in Bangalore.
So I got total one cup of flowers and decided to try something new .... and zeroed in on two different types of stir-fry recipes. You see... scarcity makes things so precious!

Drumstick Flowers and Egg Stir-Fry Recipe

This is mostly a normal egg bhurji recipe with added drumstick flowers! As I never ate these flowers with anything non-veg earlier I decided to give it a try! The drumstick flowers gave the dish an added layer of flavor and extra crunch!

Serves: 2
Ingredients:
Drumstick flowers - 1/2 Cup
Egg - 1
Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 small (finely chopped)
Green chili - 1 (finely chopped)
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - a pinch
Oil of your choice - 1-2 tablespoon
(I used mustard oil)

Method:

• First wash and clean the flowers, drain and keep aside. (see note)
• Heat oil in a small fry-pan/kadai.
• Add onion and fry till translucent.
• Add tomato and green chili and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the drumstick flowers, salt and turmeric powder, stir and keep covered on low heat until the flowers get wilted. It will take a few minutes.
• Now make little place in the center and add one egg. Sprinkle little salt. Let the egg set a little and then stir and mix everything. Check the salt and sprinkle a little red-chili powder or pepper-powder if you wish so.
• Cook until the egg is just set .... don't overcook.

Murungai Poo Poriyal (Drumstick Flower Stir Fry with Coconut -- South Indian Style)

This is a South Indian Poriyal (Tamil) or Palya (Kannadiga) recipe. The flowers were stir fried with onion and coconut with a seasoning of mustard seeds, urad daal and curry leaves. As I had only half a cup of flowers left, added one small potato to give it little volume and liked it that way. You can add green peas too.

Serves: 2
Ingredients:
Drumstick flower - 1/2 Cup
Small potato -1
Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
Coconut - 2 tablespoon (grated)
Green chili - 1 (finely chopped)
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - a pinch
Oil of your choice - 1-2 tablespoon
(I used mustard oil)

For seasoning:
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Dry red chili - 1
Split Urad daal - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 spring

Method:

• First wash and clean the flowers, drain and keep aside. (see note)
• Peel and chop the potato in small cubes.
• Heat oil in a small fry pan/kadai.
• Add mustard seeds and dry red chili and allow the seeds to splatter.
• Add the Urad daal, fry for a couple of seconds and add the curry leaves.
• Add onion and fry till translucent.
• Add potato. Sprinkle a pinch of turmeric and little salt. Cook covered on low heat until almost done.
• Add the drumstick flowers, green chili and salt, stir and keep covered on low heat until the flowers get wilted. It will take a few minutes.
• Remove cover. Add the coconut and stir well. Taste and adjust salt. Add a pinch of sugar (optional).
• Switch off the flame and keep covered until ready to serve.

Serve them as a side dish with steamed rice or phulka along with a light daal.

Notes:
Among the two recipes I tried, both were tasty but I liked the Poriyal more. When cooked with egg, the strong flavor of egg suppressed the otherwise delicate flavor and taste of drumstick flowers a bit. But in Poriyal, the flavors mingled very nicely. Try both and chose your favorite!

I like to cook the flowers as less as possible to retain the flavor and crunch! After adding the flowers and salt, keep the pan covered and cook on low heat for a few minutes ..... they get wilted very quickly.
Some people prefer to steam, even boil them before adding to the dish. Do as you prefer.

While cleaning the flowers, I don't throw anything except the stems. Take the fresh flowers and buds out of the main stem and put them in a bowl of water. The flowers will float and the small stick like stems will go down. Take the flowers by hand and put in a colander to drain.