Recently Written

• Choices, Chard, Cornmeal and Some Rotis.
• Fences
• On Bitching and Beets
• A bushful of Sumac …. and Za’atar
• “Sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn.”
• The Douglas Adams Effect
• Four more days.
• Restoring Faith in America
• Balanced Rock
• The big purge … and Plum-Ginger Chutney

Synopsis of Part I: We ended up with 150 radishes, and had no clue what to with them. (Read that saga here.)

We went blog-hopping. Here’s what we ended up with:

Left to right:
Radish Leaves Bhurji from Soul Food
Radish-Coconut Chutney from Veggie Platter
Mujj Chatin (Stir-fried Radish Chutney) from A Mad Tea Party

Top: Mulo Shaak from Bong Mom’s Cookbook
Bottom Left: Mulyachi Koshimbir (Radish Raita) from Happy Burp
Bottom Right: Radish Leaves Haak from A Mad Tea Party

Mooli Paratha from Saffron Hut
Mooli Mouse inspired by Food for Thought

This Punjabi favourite comes from Tarla Dalal’s book Achaar Aur Parathe. Like Sirkewala Pyaaz (Pickled Onions), this dish is often served with grilled veggies or paneer (cottage cheese).

Sirkewali Mooli (Radishes Pickled in Vinegar)

Cool the mixture completely, add 2 cups chopped radishes (white and red mixed), mix and store in a sterilised jar. The pickle will be ready to eat in 5 days. It will last for four to five weeks at room temperature.

Sorry, we have no idea what it tastes like. Each time we open the jar, we quickly put the lid back on. It’s nice to be able to breathe again. Tarla Dalal says it’s her favourite water-based pickle, and we’re taking her word for it.

(For Sirkewala Pyaaz,
Combine in a pan: 1 cup sliced onions preferably red), 4 to 5 slit green chillies, 1/2 cup each white vinegar and sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the whole thing to a boil, cook until the sugar has completely dissolved. Cool completely, store in a sterilised jar. It is ready to consume right away. Store refrigerated for upto 4 weeks.)

Sirkewali Mooli goes to Richa for the Regional Cuisine of India - Punjab event at As Dear As Salt. The event is the brainchild of Lakshmi at Veggie Cuisine.

1. All radishes are not made alike. Imagine a daikon. Multiply the pungency by three, and the ‘perfume’ by four. That’s what these pretty globules we grew actually are - pellets of funk. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. On their own, they look adorable. Cut them, and the fangs come out.

2. Don’t cook radishes if you’re expecting guests within the next three days. They will wonder if a skunk crawled into your home and died. We’re not the only ones who subscribe to this view.

3. Radishes are inimical to romantic activity. They give you burps - baaaaad ones that can only be described as ‘radish burps’. Don’t try kissing someone after eating radishes. He/she will begin to reconsider your relationship.

Cook and eat the leaves. They are quite non-offensive and palatable.
Eat the fleshy part only if it is well concealed and spiced as in a paratha.

We absolutely draw the line at eating it uncooked in a raita or a pickle. It makes our fridge smell foul despite layers of lids and plastic wraps.

Things to do with a radish:

1. Make them part of a bouquet.
2. Distribute radish mice among kids in your neighbourhood.
3. Donate them.
4. Enrich your soil.

We like to look at radishes, but we don’t like to eat them.

- Bee and Jai

Related posts

• A Radish Rant (24)
• Xacuti (31)
• Vegan Quiche with Swiss Chard and Corn (26)
• Vegan Peach tartlets with Almonds and Pineapple Sage (38)
• Tomato-Date Chutney (35)

SPEAK YOUR MIND

35 Comments so far

1. musical on July 7, 2007 9:33 pm

   “We don’t like to eat radishes”

   so did you make these dishes for us :-D

   i love your dedication, folks!

   kudos…..

   its very rare to see someone who despite not liking something, goes all out to try stuff…..

   and am glad a few of my guesses were correct, namely: Mooli leaves saag and stir fry chatin!

2. evolvingtastes on July 7, 2007 9:56 pm

   Wait a minute, how many hours does your day have? I have lots more recipes if you’d like, but I don’t have any up on the blog yet. The pictures on both the posts are just lovely!

3. KitchenAromas on July 7, 2007 10:11 pm

   hehe..funny! Those lil funky smelling stuff is good for ya! Gobble them all up, they all look delicious!

4. Anita on July 7, 2007 10:31 pm

   Wow! Did you cook everything on the same day - mooliyathon!!

   Methinks you exaggerate…just a little… And there is too much of a good thing, you know!

   But, everything looks delicious. What did you like, if anything?

   yeah, the same day. if we’ were going to be enveloped in radish funk, we might as well get it over with. we liked all the radish leaves dishes, esp. the haak. it’s a great great recipe for any greens. thank you. i just love how green and flavourful it turned out. - b.

5. Coffee on July 7, 2007 10:45 pm

   Did these array of dishes change your taste buds??

   they did change our olfactory receptors. - b.

6. archana, mama of twins on July 7, 2007 10:59 pm

   wow.. what a mooli marathon you went on for not liking it. I can imagine doing something like this for Jackfruit but Radish? True foodies.
   I am not a huge radish fan but I actually like it plain raw or in parathas.

7. viji on July 8, 2007 12:23 am

   This is something like a cook book bee. Beautiful dishes and I love the way you prepared it. Did not waste anything. Good job. Viji

8. shammi on July 8, 2007 12:25 am

   mwahahaha… I’m not a radish fan myself. THOROUGHLY enjoyed this post - not to mention the photos!

9. Jyothsna on July 8, 2007 12:58 am

   I’m ROFL!!! :)) Marathon session to get rid of those radishes!! Personally I like them concealed in parathas too. Coming to the sirkewali mooli, somehow the idea of adding sugar and boiling that thing puts me off, is there any other way to do it? I mean, just adding vinegar and salt alone isn’t good enough?

10. archana on July 8, 2007 2:11 am

    Enjoyed reading your post :)Even I keep all the doors and windows open and fan on full speed when I decide to make Muli Paratha, Also pray that no guest lands up at that time.

11. sra on July 8, 2007 3:37 am

    so how long did you take to finish all these dishes? Or did you donate them away?

    a looooong time. j kept asking “are they over now”? we still have that pickle. - b.

12. richa on July 8, 2007 5:40 am

    and i thot i was the only one who likes all things mooli
    sirkewaley pyaaz, ANYTIME thanks!

13. Asha on July 8, 2007 5:49 am

    WWOOOWWWWW!!!!! You used all 150 moolis,didn’t you? I have Mooli dish at Aroma if any left!!:D
    So are we in love with Mooli now? What next? Eggplants ,of course.PLANT some!!!:)

    mooli and aroma :-) …now let me think about that one. naaaahh…
    jesting aside - we did use up all the moolis. a lone mooli propped its head up yesterday. we had half a mind to give it the same treatment as a weed, instead we’re going to let it go to seed. –jai

14. neha on July 8, 2007 5:50 am

    Its a pity you won’t try the pickled radishes..they taste wonderful! So wonderful, in fact, that you start tolerating the smell. Mooli leaves..my absolute favorite childhood dish was aloo-mooli ki bhaaji. Mooli leaves steamed in a pressure cooker, then tightly drained and sauteed with boiled mashed potatoes in a heavy skillet..with hing, cumin, coriander, turmeric and red chilli.
    One piece of extra-funky mooli in your sambhar..yum.
    Bleu cheese, anyone?

    did you say sambar, neha? **shudder** mooli sambar is my nightmare. can’t stand either. :-D - b.

15. prema on July 8, 2007 6:53 am

    Thats a great job done Bee..Its amazing that u cooked all these the same day.I dont use mooli often in my cooking. I make mooli parathas and sometimes I add in sanbar too. When added in sambar it tastes better and smells better too. Its surprising that u didn’t like it in sambar!!!
    Nice presentation as usual.

16. sra on July 8, 2007 9:26 am

    just how many hours did you take to peel, cut, chop, mince, grate, cook all those radishes on the same day?

    three hours, maybe. no peeling involved. - b.

17. MALLUGIRL on July 8, 2007 1:19 pm

    hmm.. thats a whole lot of radish to go thru!! how did u go to work after that?hi hi! i give full points for atleast cooking with a vegetable u hated. won’t catch me doing that!

18. Cynthia on July 8, 2007 7:11 pm

    You and Jai could write a book on radishes at the end of this. All the dishes look enticing and the pics, as usual (I know you probably get tired hearing it, but it’s true) are outstanding.

    Happy - you-know-what!

19. A Radish Rant » jugalbandi on July 8, 2007 7:18 pm

    […] Radish Rants - Part 2 […]

20. pelicano on July 8, 2007 10:34 pm

    Oh dear…the two of you wouldn’t do well at all to open up a jar of fermented shrimp or crab paste… :-)

    Excellent dishes- like a mini JFI; you really must have wanted them dealt with quite quickly!

    yup, you got that right ! –Jai

21. Santhi on July 8, 2007 10:44 pm

    Three hours..you say…for allllllll this !!! wow, its like a cooking F1 !!!!

22. Suganya on July 8, 2007 10:52 pm

    Blistering Barnacles! I wouldnt even lay my eye on a radish for another year if i were you..

    a tintin fan - perchance? –Jai

23. Suma Gandlur on July 9, 2007 5:23 am

    Thx for trying my radish chutney. I mostly make it using the round, red/purple (whatever that color is)ones. I even tried those mooli parathas from the saffron hut and we all liked them. Somehow I don’t find radishes smelling that bad….. May be because I like them.
    If you don’t like to eat them, then I am curious to know what did you do with that beautiful, mooli thali?

    we ate it all. now we’re done with mooli for a very long time. - b.

24. Dumela on July 9, 2007 7:46 am

    haaa bee love the write up…. and really appreciate you trying something you dont like…

    whats with all the hype of the mooli smell, i dont smell a thing… (maybe my punju blood is too used to the smell)…try mooliwali makki ki roti (better than mooli parantha…)its my fav mooli dish and mooli ka lachha as salad with lemon…

    suganya…jay…me also big tintin fan…

    i guess you’re wondering the same thing i wonder when i read in some places that shalgam is smelly or jackfruit is smelly. ‘what smell?’ i ask. trust me, these little ones from our garden smell really strong. the daikon smell is benign compared to this. i loved your bhurji with the leaves, though. - b.

25. Revathi on July 9, 2007 1:55 pm

    My my my…. What a radish marathon !! Radish 101 !!

26. Suganya on July 9, 2007 5:53 pm

    Guess what my bday present from G this year was.. Complete set of Adventures of Tintin :D. Now you get the picture!

27. Dumela on July 10, 2007 12:58 am

    OMG….suganya….after you finish reading, please could I borrow them ive been wanting to read a few lately… which i read a loooong time ago…destination moon and secret of the unicorn….

28. Kanchana on July 24, 2007 12:22 pm

    Loved the Bloody End. I’m NOT surprised there was no radish sambhar on the menu!!!

    Kanchana

29. What’s wrong with this picture? » jugalbandi on July 31, 2007 6:54 pm

    […] attempting to use every edible part of the plants we grow and the produce we buy. Watermelon rinds, radish leaves, cauliflower leaves have all found their way to our dinner table in surprisingly delicious […]

30. Kanchana on August 7, 2007 2:04 pm

    Bee — your pics are not showing up!

    K

31. Peanuts » jugalbandi on August 20, 2007 8:59 pm

    […] complaints pertaining to radishes (and sambar, Bee adds) will be summarily dismissed. They are meant to taste […]

32. Enk on February 13, 2008 6:50 pm

    How funny to come across this rant! I’ve spent years eating the greens and pawning the globes off on people who actually like them, so at some point in time I decided to find a way of cooking them that I’d like and came across this one: http://greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com/2008/01/r-is-for-roasted-radishes.html

    I highly recommend it! I also have to fend off my kids to get to eat them. Can’t wait til we get to plant some this spring (a sentence I never thought I’d hear out of my mouth :o).

    Thanks for the additional recipes; I’ve added them to my favlist.

    -enk

33. Amy on April 20, 2008 2:01 pm

    Wow! These radish rants are hilarious. I can sympathize with how you felt, though I didn’t find the Easter Egg radishes I tried to be that offensive. It’s great to find some recipe ideas — I get stuck in a radish rut reeeeally quickly.

34. jugalbandi » Cucumbers … and the Summer Bounty on July 15, 2008 6:58 am

    […] Radish Rants - Part 2 (33) […]

35. Pam on July 21, 2008 11:59 am

    Just found your post on radishes, which is great because I’m harvesting my first crop ever. I love the recipes you found, and the links, too! Thanks so much for doing this. I love Indian food and can’t wait to try some of these.