M for Mooli-wadi sabzi :)

Once again, its time to join for Nupur's A-Z potluck and this week she features the letter M. and i decided to make M for mooli-wadi di sabzi! Mooli or radish is a fantastic vegetable, spicy and pungent in taste, its available in different sizes and colors. This vegetable is rich in sulphur, which also is the reason behind the typical mooli smell. Mooli is very versatile too, featuring in parathas, floating happily in sambhar, relishes and raitas! and i use and love mooli in each of these forms. While we many of us are familiar with mooli parathas and to an extent mooli sambhar, a lot of people are shocked when they hear the words mooli-raita (a traditional Kashmiri dish muj chetin). Mooli and dahi, nahin-nahin, is what some utter-but one spoon full in their mouth and they go wow! its heavenly indeed, so folks, do try it! Anita tells you how :). We Punjabis love our moolis too, and our use of mooli is not limited to parathas. We make simple but delicious sabzis with this lovely vegetable.


One of the most popular mooli sabzis in Punjab is grated mooli sauted and cooked with masala wadis. and the other one is the mooli bhurji, made out of chopped mooli and mooli leaves :). None of these preparations use any onion, garlic and tomato. We'll prepare the mooli-wadi sabzi today. Usually this dish is made with coarse grated mooli, but many a time i grate my moolis fine. Try both, they both taste different! and i also add the chopped mooli leaves, which usually are used only in mooli bhurji. it gives a nice colorful touch to the sabzi. You can also use red mooli (small red bunch radishes) for this preparation too-looks very pretty and equally tasty!

So, lets start :).


We need:

• Two moolis with leaves
• 2-3 Punjabi masala wadis
• 1/4 tsp. jeera
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric and red chilli powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp. oil

Remove the leaves from the moolis. Wash and chop the leaves and keep aside. Scrape the moolis and grate them (fine or coarse-your choice). Squeeze the water out of the grated moolis (save this water and use it soon for making dough for phulkas, or daal etc.). In a pan, heat oil and splutter the jeera. Add turmeric and red chilli powder, followed by the graped moolis. Mix well and add the chopped leaves. Add salt and stir well. Now crush the wadis into small pieces. Cover the pan and cook on low heat with occassional stirring, till done. The wadis should become softer (softer than they are, but still gritty) and we are ready to go!


Serve hot with chapati or parantha. Simple goodness!




Note: Good Punjabi wadis have a lil' hing and when cooked they get a slightly tangy flavor. i have occasionally found good wadis here, but nothing to beat the Amritsari wadis! The wadis have a whole bunch of other spices, so no need to add garam masala. You may try other spice wadis as well. Addition of a lil' amchoor is welcome, if you love tangy taste. and those who run away from the mooli smell, keep the exhaust on-and cooking also helps turn the raw mooli smell into a spicy aroma. Also, as i stressed before, the mooli water should be used quickly.

Paronthe te acchar :)

And that, my dear, sums up a hearty Punjabi style breakfast.....Paranthas, or paronthe, as they are called in Punjabi, make one of the most widely enjoyed and versatile Indian breads. Plain or stuffed, they are packed with loads of flavor. As i mentioned earlier, paronthe are traditionally served only during breakfast.....they being a "heavy meal" :). Accompanied by dahi, achaar or chutney, they (besides my ever favorite upma) make weekend breakfast a real treat. We've all had paranthas of different shapes, sizes and with different fillings.....so whats new here.

Well, the style of making paranthas. I am taking about the TWO LAYERED PARANTHAS. I noticed that outside Punjab, very few people make paranthas in this certain way. So, lets get rolling (Coffee, i am at it) ;). And if its parantha, can the achaar be far behind-so two of my favorite pickles accompany these three delish paranthas.

Paratha/Parontha party: Lets put together two classic and one creative parathas today. My pick: the crisp mooli (radish) paranthas, the yummy aloo (potato) paranthas and the green and hearty spring onion (bhookaan-Punjabi) and peas (matar) paranthas.

The Dough:

Whole wheat is must :).

• For mooli paranthas, i prepare the dough with the water squeezed from grated moolis along with lil' salt and extra water if needed.
• For aloo paranthas, the dough has salt to taste and lil' ajwain (optional).
• For spring-onion matar paranthas, ajwain is must in the dough, besides salt.

So, knead.....and keep kneading till the dough is soft and smooth. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, while we make the stuffings/fillings :).

Stuffings and preparation:

Mooli paronthe:

Grate the radish after scraping the peel. Squeeze out the water as much as possible and us this for making the dough. To the grated radishes, add: salt to taste, red chilli powder (optional) and garam masala. Taste for salt.


So, for making the paranthas, either we can roll out one single poori, put some stuffing, fold it up and roll it out, OR, make two small pooris, put stuffing on one, cover with another poori, press to seal the edges and roll :). and the latter, my dear, is the two-layered Punjabi parontha :). Roll out in a style of your choice (i recommend that you try the latter), fry the parontha on a hot griddle and serve hot with dahi or achaar.



Yummy variations: Try red radish for a change. Also if you have left over mooli sabzi (grated mooli, squeezed dry and stir fried with turmeric, salt and chilli powder), that makes a great stuffing too :).


Aloo paronthe:

The method of rolling remains the same, with two pooris. For filling(s), do the following:

Wash a big potato. DO NOT reach out for your pressure cooker. TURN towards your MICROWAVE and just microwave for 5 mins./potato. Cool, peel and mash the potatoes. Add 1/4 tsp. each of jeera, dhaniya and kali mirchi powder (last one is optional), add 1/2 tsp. pomegranate seeds, salt to taste, a pinch of garam masala, chopped cilantro, chopped green/red chillies (to taste/optional) and 1/2 tsp. lime/lemon juice. You can make it as spicy or as sublime as you wish. Dhaniya and anardana are must, as is cilantro :). THIS is the filling i used.



Sometimes, people also make a simpler filling with mashed potatoes, salt, pepper and chopped onions.....an entirely different and equally delicious flavor.

Roll out the paronthe, fry and serve with your pick of raita or achaar.



Spring Onion-Matar Paronthe:

3-4 spring onions-chopped and 1/2 cup fresh/frozen peas. Heat oil (1/4 tsp.) and splutter jeera, add spring onions and peas, turmeric, salt and a pinch of garam masala. Stir fry till the matar is bright green and the raw smell is gone. Cool and use this filling to make delicious paranthas.



The advantage of this style is that it allows for a lot more amount of filling. Also, its more filling, so you eat only one parantha, consume just as much wheat as for two of the regular small paranthas and half the amount of ghee/oil/margarine :). However, please be careful to seal the edges well, and also ensure that the edges are rolled out well (so they get fried well). Press with the spoon on the edges to ensure even cooking.

For lower calory variations, roll them much thinner, cook the paranthas on low heat as a chapati (for this, ensure that the dough is soft) and once done, enjoy with raita.

ACHAAR:

Achaars.....the pride of Indian kitchens. Every region of India boats of a huge variety of delicious pickles. Punjabi thali has a special place for achaar. I bring to you the flavors of two of my favorite achaars.

Shalgham-gajar da achaar: This one is a real simple and quick pickle to prepare, and equally delicious :). We need:

• Cubed/semi-lunar sliced turnips
• Baby carrots (halved)
• Mustard seeds (2-3 tsp.)
• Turmeric
• Salt to taste
• Masala: 1/2 tsp. each of fenugreek seeds (methra), fennel seeds (saunf) and black pepper (kali mirchi), dry roasted and ground.
• Red or white vinegar (2 tbsp.)
• Mustard oil
• Sugar (1 tsp.)

To the vinegar, add turmeric, salt and sugar. Splutter mustard seeds in 2 tbsp. mustard oil, and add to the vinegar mix after cooling it a bit. Add this mix to the vegetables and mix throughly. Top it with the powdered masal which has been stirred with 1 tbsp. hot mustard oil. Mix throughly and store in a dry jar. Let it rest for 2-3 days with its share of sun-bathing :). Its good to go after that :)). Real quick and real delicious.I had made this pickle last week, a Planter peanut bottle full-its almost over now :)). You can judge that by the amount of achaar you've seen on these platters ;).

Nimbu-mirch te adrak da achaar: Another favorite, equally simple-just that it needs lot more patience :). To make this pickle, wash 12-15 key limes and soak them in hot water for 20-30 minutes. Remove the limes, wipe dry and cut into halves. Add to this julienned ginger and chopped serrano peppers or hari mirchi (halved). Top this with 3-4 tbsp. lime/lemon juice, salt to taste, red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp. sugar (aids pickling) and turmeric. Mix and let sit.

Meanwhile, in hot mustard oil, splutter mustard seeds and add the masala powder as mentioned above. Cool a bit and mix with the pickle throughly. Pack in a dry container and let it sun-bathe for a month or more.....delicious pickle takes time sometimes ;). A month or two later, be ready to enjoy this goodness :).

What's next:

• Khatte Jimikand te Vesan wali poori.
• Guchhi-Paneer di sabzi.
• Ek khicri, ek raita.