Wednesday, June 24, 2009

White Asian Daikon/radish/muli sauted in spices

Daikon or radish is not a very popular vegetable in India. In North India, they are more common for Muli paratha or stuffed flat bread. In Bengal, daikon is either used in mixed vegetables dishes or cooked on its own with aromatic spice and vada made with masoor dal (red lentil) or with vadi (sun dried lentil drop). This somewhat elaborate dish is called mulo ghonto. It is one of my favourite vegetarian dishes. And amazingly it does not have any onion or garlic among the spices.

Recipe:

Dikon or muli or mulo white ones: 5
Oil: 1tsp
ghee: 1 tsp
cumin whole: 1/2 tsp
bay leaf: 2
green chilli: 2 or more
ground cumin: 1 tsp
ground ginger: 1/2 tsp
turmeric: 1/4 tsp or less
Asafaetida: i pinch
salt: as you want
sugar: little bit ( little more than a pinch)
Chili powder: 1/4 tsp or more if you want
coriander leaves /cilantro: 1Tbsp

Optional:
milk: 2 TBSP
vada: made from ground masoor dal (red lentil) paste and then deep fried (optional)
vadi: you can buy sometime in Indian stores as Punjabi vadis. They are sundried ground lentil paste with spices.

Grate the mulis with a grater or food processor. In a bowl in the grated muli add salt, sugar and red chili powder and mix it well. Keep the mixture for five minutes. Water will come out. Press them with your hand and remove the water.

In a pan add some oil. In hot oil put the whole cumin, bay leaf and green chili and asafaetida and turmeric. Add the muli mixture. Saute it for few minutes. Let it simmer. Check it occasionally and stir it so that it does not get stuck at the bottom of the pan. You can add little water too. When it is dry add the little milk and ghee. Cook it for couple of more minutes. Remove from the stove.

In another pan deep fry the vadas or vadis. Then add them to the muli mixture and garnish with coriander leaves.

We generally eat this dish with rice and masoor dal.But ti goes well with rotis or chapatis too.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting way of cooking mooli :) I've only had it cooked in a Chinese style - stir fried with diced meat or in a stew. I must try your recipe sometime. Thanks!

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