Radish Kootu | Mullangi Kootu Recipe | Side Dish for Rice

A couple of month’s ago I was enthusiastically churning out full fledged meals at home!The cooking fervor would sometimes lead me to make at least half a dozen dishes for lunch!! Certainly, they were enjoyed by all at home. That led me to cook more and thus this cycle continued for a while.

As always, when anything reaches a crescendo, we know what happens!! Yes, my cooking mojo started declining and now I don’t cook that many dishes in a single meal as I did a couple of months back.

On the brighter side, I have a huge pile of recipes that are ready to be posted!! Here comes one from the drafts[as always!!!] from a meal that everyone enjoyed without even recognizing the vegetable that went into the Kootu!!

I had bookmarked this recipe from Chitra Amma’s Kitchen and decided to try it one fine day. I was sure that if I mentioned that I made radish kootu, folks at home would make a face and will hesitate to even taste it. Radish is liked only in sambar and parathas and anything else with it is given a step motherly look!

So the day I made this dish,I silently served it without commenting on the recipe or the ingredient. Lil Angel asked for a second helping and then a third and I knew this dish would be back on the table soon!

No one found out that it was radish and after the meal I couldn’t wait to tell them what the dish was!Of course no one believed it and I had a difficult time convincing them!!

This dish goes to Blogging Marathon #71, Week 1, Day 1, themed ‘Make a meal’.

I used:
Adapted From :Chitra Amma’s Kitchen

White Radish- 2
Tomato-1
Moond dal- 1/4 cup
Raw peanuts- 1/8 cup
Tamarind- a small lemon sized ball
Ginger- 1″ piece
Curry leaves- a few
Coriander leaves- a few
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Salt to taste

For the spice paste:

Coriander seeds- 1 tablespoon
Channa dal-1 tablespoon
Urad dal-1 tablespoom
Red chilies- 2
GRated coconut- 1/4 cup
Oil-1 teaspoon

For the tempering

Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Channa dal -1 teaspoon
Oil-1 teaspoon

Soak the raw peanuts till you prep the other ingredients. Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract the juice and keep aside.Soak moong dal. Chop the radish, tomato, ginger.

First let us make the spice mix.Heat oil in a pan and add the coriander seeds, channa dal, urad dal and red chilies.One the dal mixture turns brown ,switch off the flame and add the coconut. Mix well and set aside to cool.Grind in a mixie to a smooth paste adding a little water.

In a vessel take moong dal and peanut[discarding the soaked water], radish, ginger,turmeric powder.Add about a cup of water and pressure cook till radish is soft but not mushy. I cooked for 3 hisses.

Transfer the cooked mixture onto a pan and add the tomato, tamarind extract,ground spice paste, salt and mix well.

Add more water if needed. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.Remove lid and switch off the heat once it comes to a rolling boil.

Heat a small pan with oil and add mustard, channa dal and curry leaves.Once the mustard pops and dal turns brown, pour over the kootu and mix.

Serve garnished with coriander leaves, as a side with steamed rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#71

Bon Appetit…