Crossover recipe
 Drive away summer fatigue with the refreshing pudina-mooli, which combines the joys of salad and a subzi

Mooli or horse radish is used in India as a salad ingredient, seasonal filling in parantha or, at the most, in raita but seldom as a vegetable. The hill villages in Uttarakhand make do with this when no other vegetable is handy or affordable and mix it with capsicum, torai, and even brinjal, at times, to stretch the more expensive subzi. To be honest, we have once tasted sublime gogji cooked with dried ginger powder, tomatoes and sugar and this is what has inspired us to retrieve another ‘family recipe’ that our late mother occasionally resorted to revive and regale sun-scorched guests in summer.

The dish is very easy to cook and has a very pleasant emerald hue that seems to magically drive away all fatigue. Mother had an interesting patter that was kept up when pudina mooli was served to them, ‘This express the wish of the host that you remain forever green.’ The guest, needless to add, were moved beyond words. She had another mooli dish that was a winter special mooli was mixed with large Pahari nimbu (lemon) segments, sugar ground bhanga seeds and darim (anardana). Hours were spent gossiping and relishing the saana mooli-nimu. More about it some other time.

Pudina-mooli, we feel is a great item to include in your summer menu as a crossover recipe that combines the joys of a salad and a subzi. Nothing stops you from adding a little whisked dahi just before serving to have a suggestion of raita as well.

Ingredients

  • Mooli (horse radish, tender roots and not very large) 1 kg

  • Green chillies (deseeded) 5-6

  • Lemon juice 1 tsp

  • Sugar 1 tsp

  • Oil 1 tbsp

  • Salt to taste

  • A bunch of fresh pudina (mint) leaves

  • A bunch of fresh coriander leaves

Method

Wash, scrape the mooli and cut in ¼ inch thick round slices. Wash, clean and chop the pudina and coriander leaves. Grind to a coarse paste with chillies adding salt and sugar along with lemon juice. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan and put the mooli in it. Add ground masala and stir well to mix.

Cook uncovered for five to seven minutes. The mooli should retain a bite. Serve with hot phulka, or steamed rice and dal for a light refreshing lunch. Garnish with Thai red chillies.





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