Ulkobi Tarkari

Ulkobi or Kohlrabi has a strong cabbage like flavor. It can be cut, boiled for a few minutes and then blenched in iced water to make the flavor milder.  Since I like the strong flavor, I usually skip the boiling and blenching part. But I do saute it first with oil and very little salt to keep the flavors locked in. 

For preparing the curry we will need;
Kohlrabi(Ulkobi), 3 medium size
Potatoes,  3 to 5 small
Peas(fresh or frozen, about 1 cup
Tomatoes, a few(according to taste)
Onion chopped, 1 cup or less
Ginger peeled and finely crushed, 1 tbsp
Green chillies, a few
Oil, 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Kalonji seeds, 1/2 tsp 
Hing, a pinch
Cinnamon, 1 long stick or equivalent
Cardamom and Clove powder, 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric, 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp
Roasted Cumin seeds powder, 1 tsp
Roasted Methi seed powder, a pinch (optional)
Cilantro chopped, about 1/2 cup (optional)
salt, to taste

Preparing the veggies: First the Kohlrabies need to be washed, peeled and diced into small cubes. The Potatoes need to be washed and diced in slightly bigger chunks than the Kohlrabies. If using frozen peas, thaw it before adding it to the curry.

Cooking: Take 1/2 tsp oil in a nonstick pan and saute the cubed Kohlrabies in medium to high heat. Add a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes. After switching off the heat place the Kohlrabies in a flat plate to stop the cooking and cooling down.
In the cooking vessel heat 1 tbsp of oil till moderately hot. Add the Kalonji seeds and wait till the it stop crackling. Then add in the Hing, Cinnamon stick, chopped onions and cook till the onions are soft. Add the crushed ginger, slit green chillies. Then add the Kohlrabi and potato pieces and saute for few more minutes.

Add in coriander powder, turmeric powder, cardamon and cloves powder, salt, chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of boiling water. Cover it and cook for about 10 minutes, till the veggies are fork tender. Finally add the peas and the roasted cumin seeds powder. Add Roasted Methi seed powder and the chopped cilantro just before serving. Serve it hot with rice or chapati.

Sorisa Saaga (with Mula)

Mula Sorisa Saaga

The most tedious part of any saaga/green preparation is to clean the greens properly. It takes me about 4 or 5 rinses to get rid of all the dirt and soil out of the leaves. But the amazing taste of dish, covers-up for all that work :)

Ingredients

Radish Green- 2 to 3 cups chopped
Mustard green - 4 to 5 cups chopped
Radish- 5 or 6 small- 1 cup chopped
Butternut squash- 1 cup chopped
Potatoes- 2 small - 1 cup chopped
Eggplants- 3 or 4 small - 1 cup chopped
Tomatoes - 1 cup chopped
Onion -1/2 cup chopped
Garlic -1tbsp crushed
Salt to taste
Sugar- 1tsp (optional)
Turmeric -1/2 tsp ds
Oil - 1tbsp

Tadka
Oil- 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Hing, a pinch
Dry red chilies, a few

Mustard Paste
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
green chilies (optional)

I usually cutoff the stem of the mustard greens and use only the greens for this preparation. And I chop the greens roughly in big pieces not very fine. Rest of the veggies I try to cut them as similar sizes as possible, for them to cook evenly.
          

Mustard Paste
Soak the mustard seeds and the cumin for a couple of hours. Then grind it to a fine paste with the green chilies. I use the yellow mustard because it gives the paste a nice color but it's milder than the black mustard.















Cooking
Heat 1tbsp oil and add the chopped onion. Saute for about 5 minutes in medium to high heat till it's slightly brown on edges. Then add the crushed garlic and all the chopped veggies except tomatoes. Add turmeric, salt and sugar. Cover and cook till the veggies are almost done, for about 10 minutes. then add the chopped tomatoes. let the tomatoes cook for 2 minutes and then add the chopped greens. Cover it and cook till the greens cook down. then add the mustard paste. Cook for another 5 minutes till it's done.
Tadka
Just before serving heat 1 tbsp of oil. when it's hot add the cumin seeds, dry red chillies and hing. Wait for the seeds to Spatter then remove from the heat. Drizzle the prepared oil(tadka) on the curry. 

Serve it with plain Rice.