Food Talk
 Poor turnip is now prized

From purees and mousses to stuffed temptations, the versatility of turnip is being rediscovered. Pushpesh Pant on the good old shalgam

SHALGAM is not a vegetable that readily springs to our mind when we think of delicacies. It is commonly mentioned to describe wasteful slaughter in idiomatic usage — shalgam muli ki tarah kaat daala. It is not expensive and is used as a filler in pickles that can be prepared quickly and eaten with roti or parantha substituting for vegetables requiring a more elaborate treatment.

Poor turnip, that is what the British call it, suffers from unaccountable prejudice. It is a popular pot vegetable on the continent and contributes substance to soups and stews. It is even used as a garnish.

Gogchi

Ingredients

Turnips peeled and quartered 1/2 kg

Tomatoes 1/2 kg

Saunf powder 1-1/2 tsp

Sonth powder 1 tsp

Kashmiri garam masala 1 tsp

Cinnamon sticks, 1" each two

Yogurt (whisked) 150 ml

Kashmiri red chilli powder
(dissolved in 1/4cup of water) 2tbsp Oil 100 ml

Sugar 2 tbsp

A large pinch of hing

Salt to taste

Method

Mix 1 tsp salt with the turnips and keep them aside for 15 minutes. Wash and then fry them in refined oil until reddish brown in colour, remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Blanch and puree the tomatoes. Dissolve hing in a little warm water and keep aside.

Put `BD cup of water to boil in a pan with the cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms, salt, red chilly powder. When the water is almost evaporated add the hing and then after a minute the tomato puree. Sprinkle sugar, sonth and saunf powders. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring continuously. Keep cooking for seven to eight minutes Add the fried turnips. Cook till the turnips are tender to taste. Mix well and simmer for two to three minutes.

The great German poet and polymath Goethe has sung paeans of praise of turnips form Teltow in Berlin and the French shalgam form Nantes, Orleans and Belle-Ile-en-Mer have been famous for centuries.

The good old shalgam is a prized vegetable in Europe. Purple Top Milan is the pride of Italy and the French take delight in their Boule d’Or (the Golden Ball).

Chefs abroad are beginning to rediscover its charms and are using it in a variety of innovative ways — from purees and mousses to myriad stuffed temptations. Turnips braised in cider are undeniably exotic and the really adventurous have dared to serve it raw — grated with a dash of lime squeezed on top.

Their enthusiasm is understandable as shalgam is healthy fare. It is low in calorific value — only 36 calories per 100 gm and high water content. Spring turnips may have to be consumed in a hurry but the winter produce has a long shelf life.

Turnips can absorb a large amount of fat and can be used to reduce the life threatening lard that floats on top of the gravy.

The vegetable has been grown in India for over a millennium and, our Kashmiri brethren exploit its potential more fully. It is an indispensable ingredient in the fabulous shabdegh but this dish requires overnight slow cooking and tedious preparations and finishing.

Also it can be enjoyed only by the carnivores. There is the equally tempting rajma cooked with shalgam where the beautiful bulb soaks up all the flavourful juices only to release them when you bite into it.

We must confess though that we have never been able to master the recipe that our friend Rashmi Dar has generously shared with us. She modestly gives all the credit to the rajma from Ranbirsinghpura in Jammu.

We have a lurking suspicion that we falter somewhere forgetting a step somewhere. Anyway, we share with our readers another favourite gogchi.

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