Radish Greens Poriyal

I try my best to include greens in our menu atleast twice a week. Also, I have the anxiety to try out different greens and this is one such experiment made out of radish greens. I visited whole foods for my grocery shopping and the small radish bunches with fresh greens on it caught my eyes and I grabbed them. I have cooked radish greens before and made curry with peanuts ( I will try to share this recipe later), but this is a attempt with a different flavor. Hope you like it.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1. Radish greens - finely chopped - 1 1/2 cups

2. Onions - finely chopped - 1/4 cup

3. Oil - 1/2 tablespoon

4. Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

5. Curry leaves - 5 to 6

6. Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

7. Salt - to taste

To Grind:

1.  Coconut - 3 to 4 tablespoon

2. Turmeric powder - a pinch

3. Garlic pods - 2 

4. Red chilies - 1 to 2 (depending on your spice level)

Preparation: 
1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when it splutters add cumin seeds and onions and saute until onion becomes translucent
2. Now add the radish greens ( i used only leaves and discarded the stems) and stir well and cook it for 3 to 4 minutes
3. Meanwhile dry grind all ingredients given under 'to grind'. Do not add water
4. Add the ground mixture and required salt to the pan and mix well
5. Sprinkle few drops of water and close the pan and cook in slow flame for 7 to 8 minutes until the raw smell goes away

Radish greens is ready to be served and it goes well with Sambhar or Rasam rice.

Tips:
1. You can avoid garlic if you don't like the flavor
2. Instead of seasoning cumin seeds, you can grind it along with the other ingredients
3. Use small onions (shallots) for additional flavor

Chow Chow kootu - Version 2

I already have posted a version of chow chow kootu earlier, but this one has a slight variation and flavor. 

Preparation Time: 15 mins Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
1. Chow chow (Chayote) - 1
2. Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
3. Onion - finely chopped - 1/4 cup
4. Tomato - finely chopped - 1/4 cup
5. Salt - to taste
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
To Grind:
1. Coconut - 5 tablespoon
2. Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
3. Red chilies - 1 ( I used a long red chilly so one was enough, if using smaller ones you can use 2 or alter according to your spice preference)
4. Peppercorns - 5 to 6
To Temper:
1. Oil - 2 tablespoon
2. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
3. Curry leaves - 5 to 6
4. Asafoetida - pinch

Preparation:
1. Wash and soak Moong dhal for 15 minutes
2. Cut chow chow into small pieces and finely chop onion and tomato
3. In a pressure cooker, add the cut vegetables, moong dhal, turmeric powder, salt and water (vegetables and dhal should soak in water)
4. Leave it for 3 whistles
5. Grind the ingredients given under 'to grind' into a paste with little water
6. Once the pressure comes down, open the cooker and add the ground paste and bring it to boil (approximately takes 5 to 6 minutes). You may adjust the consistency of the kootu at this stage by adding water
7. Now prepare the seasoning - heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add asafoetida, curry leaves and red chilies
8. Add it to the kootu and switch off the stove

Chow chow kootu is ready to be served. This can be had with rice or rotis.

Tips:
1. If the kootu becomes watery, you can add 1 teaspoon of rice flour
2. You can use coconut oil for seasoning if you like coconut flavor
3. Instead of moong dhal,you can use masoor dhal