I would like to be able to use the same drawable to represent both:
and
Your answer is very nice. Although, this solution is practice too if you're using a Textview and a embed drawable:
int colorARGB = R.color.your_color;
Drawable[] textviewDrawables = drawerItem.getCompoundDrawables();
// Left Drawable
textviewDrawables[0].setColorFilter(colorARGB, PorterDuff.Mode.SRC_ATOP);