Moolangi (Radish) Chutney

Meet ma dad whom I don recognize anymore..and I can bet that mom wont either once she’s back..hehe

He’s taken an interest in cooking (to ma relief :) and shocked us beyond belief ! His palak soup is to die for and moolangi chutney is really worth trying…

Most of your dads may cook and therefore…you may not fully understand my sentiments here :) To me Appaji has always been someone who reads the newspaper all day long, always knows which day and in which area water and electricity is not available,strongly believes only in Saving and never Spending, never forgets to vote and ensures we vote too, wonders why mum wants him to buy a saree each year when her bureau is full of sarees, wears same old shirts at others weddings saying the best is only for his daughter’s wedding, goes for a walk with neighbour uncle and comes home running 30 mins later to watch some weepy soap on ETV, thinks my tattoo is fake even after 2 weeks..and so on. Its endless :) Coming to the point, neither akka nor me nor mum have ever seen him doing things besides the above kinda activities. So…Appaji and cooking ???? No No..never ever seen..not even when mum once in a while gets tired churning out dishes for him and leaves for her bro’s place puffing in anger and disgust (Yes! these things do happen even after 30 years of marriage and all I can do is watch them and wonder “will my parents ever ever grow up ?” hehe..)

I also used to wonder, why Appaji spends so much time watching these endless cookery shows on TV..Bombaat Bojana, Adige Aremane, Athe Sose Adige Saviruchi etc. when he never intends to cook any. But now I know :) After years of watching, he’s putting them all to test since mum left for Akka’s place. Last week he walks upto me with a plate of veg salad, palak soup and says “are you taking care of me or am I taking caring of you? “.. hehe… all I know is, me and dad are somehow surviving despite mum being away and in the process discovering our hidden talents. Its true how they say that one's best talents are uncovered only under pressure :)

And as unpredictable as men can be (which I realized for the second time since 3 weeks) today he again dished out this moolangi chutney and demanded I click pics of it and put it on the blog :)

So guys…here it is! Am really not sure bout how ur dad is…but mine definitely Rocks! :)

Moolangi (Radish) Chutney :

Ingredients –

Moolangi /Radish – 1 (med size)

Onion – 1 chopped

Tomato – 1 chopped

Red Chilies – 6 (depends on your spice levels)

Dhaniya/Coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Menthya/Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp

Jeerage/Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Sasive/Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Tamarind Paste – 2 tsp

Oil

Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

Method –

1. Take a pan and heat 2 tsp of oil. Fry red chilies, coriander seeds ,mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves. Grind these to fine powder without adding any water.

2. In the same pan heat another tsp of oil and sauté radish, tomato and onion till the raw smell goes away. If raw the chutney will taste funny and may not last longer. Grind this along with fine powder, tamarind paste and salt without adding any water.

3. Season this mixture, with a bit of oil, curry leaves and mustard and cook it on low flame until oil seperates from chutney.

It tastes best with idly, dosa, mudde (ragi balls :) and even hot plain rice n ghee.