Radish raita

Radish is one of our most favorite vegetables. With its low calorie count and innumerable health benefits it stays as a good choice for salads, fresh juice, South Indian mullangi sambar, stuffed paratha, stir fry and also this COOL raitha. Whenever hubby sees this beautiful bunch of fresh radishes he will involuntarily pick some, that too the big white ones are his favorite. Having the radish in mullangi sambar is our usual, but this raitha holds good for summer. Enjoy this delicious raita and stay cool!

Ingredients:

Daikon Radish (long white) -1
fat free Indian plain yogurt (curd) - 1 cup
coconut oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
urid dhal (black gram lentil) - 1 tsp
curry leaf / cilantro - little
ginger - 1/2 inch
hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
salt - to taste

To grind:

Green chilly - 2
shredded coconut - 1 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Scrub and remove the skin of radish. Chop off the top and bottom, wash well. Shred it using the coarse teeth of a mandolin slicer (carrot shredder).
Heat oil in a wok. Let the mustard start splutter. Then add the urid dhal, hing, finely chopped ginger, curry leaf / cilantro (1 tsp) and saute till urid dhal gets mild red. Then add the shredded radish and saute for a few seconds. Sprinkle a tbsp of water and cook covered for 1 minute. The radish should be semi cooked.
Switch off and let it cool completely.
Grind the items mentioned above without water to a coarse paste.
Mix with the radish and add salt.
Then add the (very cold) plain desi yogurt and mix well.
Radish raitha is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as side dish while serving any spicy hot curry with roti.

Note:

1.If we can get the radish with leaves, then saute both to make this raita.
Horse radish, daikon radish (Asian white radish), red radish can be used in this recipe. I have used daikon radish here.
2.Radish is a very good diuretic and rich in digestive enzymes.

Cabbage Vadai

Almost a generation back it was a culture to prepare some evening-snack along with coffee everyday. Nowadays with the availability of packaged snacks and nearby restaurants, that idea is slowly fading. Here is a vadai recipe my mom's sister shared with us long back. The basic batter is similar to the ulunthu vadai, with some vegetable touch. 'Adding some vegetables to the vadai batter' has always been in our tradition to stretch the quantity. May be our mom's had mastered this quick-fix techniques to cater a surprise guest. When I did this after marriage, it became my mother in law's favorite too.
Recipe source: My Gandhi chithi

Ingredients:

(For 18 medium size vadai)
Urid dhal (black gram lentil) - 1 cup
rice flour - 2 tbsp
corn Oil (for deep frying) - 200 ml
Cabbage (finely chopped) - 1 cup
green chilly - 4 (finely chopped)
ginger - 2 inch
cumin - 1 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig

Method:

Wash the urid dhal thrice. Soak the urid dhal in cold water for 2 or 3 hours. (I suggest soaking it inside refrigerator, which makes the vadai to absorb less oil).
Grind it to a fine paste with salt and pepper. If needed add 1 or 2 tbsp water.

Take the batter in a mixing bowl. Taste and adjust the salt now.
Finely shred / chop the cabbage. Finely chop ginger, chillies too.
Mix the finely chopped cabbage, green chilly, curry leaf , cumin , rice flour with the batter.

Heat the oil in a wok. Wait till it reaches the hottest point. Reduce the flame to medium.

Wet a plastic sheet or banana leaf (small square). Take a small ball of batter , place it on the sheet, gently flatten it and make a small hole at the center.

Deep fry the vadai in medium to low heat till it gets the golden red color.

Drain the oil , take out and place on kitchen towel / multi holed basin to drain excess oil.

Cabbage vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions;

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup along with hot coffee or tea in the evening.
Also makes a good side dish with Idly, Venn pongal, sarkarai pongal etc.