Murangatholhi Kirugarudhiya

Yes we can make Kirugarudhiya out of so many things, but Murangatholhi Kirugarudhiya (drumstick yellow curry) is probably our favourite from them all. Below is our version of this beautiful mild yellow curry.

As usual, before we begin with the recipe, we do have some things to tell you: we used a sour mango but you can substitute that with bilamagu, we used a githeyo mirus but a lot of people would use tholhi mirus instead, we softened the drumsticks in water, but it’s quite usual to do that in thin coconut milk, and some people do add cinnamon and cardamom, we didn’t. There’s a bit more to it, but we are going to leave it at that. So, do whatever works for you, because after all it’s your Kirugarudhiya and the important thing is that you like it.

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 3 murangatholhi (drumsticks)
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¼ inch slice of ginger
• 1 tbsp. thinly sliced green mango (or to taste)
• 15 curry leaves
• 3 inch piece of raanbaa
• 3 cups water
• 1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• ½ cup sliced valhomas
• ¼ githeyo mirus (or to taste)
• ¼ cup thick coconut milk
• ½ tsp. turmeric powder

Instructions:

1. Clean the drumsticks and cut them into pieces. Our pieces were 3 inches long. As for cleaning the drumsticks you can either scrape the skin away by using a sharp knife or do it the old way by using the tip of your knife and your fingers to pull the skin away; when you do this, it’s going to come off in strips.
2. Slice the onion thinly and squash the garlic and ginger.
3. Place the drumsticks and water in a pot. Add salt and on a gentle boil, let it cook until the drumsticks are soft. They should be done in around 10 to 15 minutes depending on the heat.
4. Add the onions, garlic and ginger, githeyo mirus, turmeric, curry leaves, raanbaa, valhomas, sliced mango and the coconut milk. Cover the pot and on low heat, let the mixture simmer until the onions soften a bit and the flavours are well combined; 5 to 10 minutes should do it depending on the heat. Before you call it done, as usual, do a taste test and make any adjustments you want.