September 12, 2006

RUSTIC RADISH GOJJU WITH RAGI OR RICE !

When I was in the grocery store last week, I saw this enormous Daikon (kind of Asian Radish), Immediately, I thought of my paternal grandfather (Thatha) who passed away few years ago and about his favorite supper back in his farm near Mysore. He had lost all his teeth by his 50th year, this radish (Indian radishes are pearly white and small with lots of flavor) gojju was his favorite and ate with ragi (red millet flour) balls so he could gulp it down without having to chew !
My father would repeatedly ask my Thatha to visit with us in B'lore so he can get false set of teeth or dentures so he could eat any food he likes. But thatha always refused and said "Nope, this is nature's way, that Dentist is not GOD". And would you believe he only wore either pure cotton or silk clothes with gold cufflings all his life, none of those other linen or polyester??!! CRAZY STUBBORN FELLA !! :D

Rustic Radish/Moolangi Gojju:

I don't know how many of you are familiar with ragi muddhe (similar to Italian Polenta without Cheese but little thicker ,believe it not! :D ), which is made everyday in and around Mysore farms for laborers who work in the farms and come to our home for lunch.They are served two HUGE Ragi or corn meal (Jola) balls with any gravy and they would eat these within mins! As a city bred girl visiting, I would stare at the speed the food would disappear in amazement and got scolded for staring at them by my Ajji!!

Although I was his fav. first granddaughter, my grand father always thought I was not Hindu enough because I went to Catholic schools and too tomboyish to be a good wife to anyone some day! He was very upset with my dad raising me that way. So today I am going to post his fav. rustic farm food in memory of him to prove that not only did I grow up to be a GOOD enough Hindu (took a LOT of reading on Hinduism, mind you! and I admit I am still a bad Lingayat or Veera Shaiva person. Guilty!!) but also a good wife & mother to boot. He better be very proud of me now!!:D

Thatha, you lead a great life on your own terms and from wherever you are looking down on me, here's looking at you old man !! ENJOY!!!

TO MAKE RADISH GOJJU YOU NEED TO:

Grind
1/4 Cup Fresh grated Coconut,
1 tbsp Dalia(Hurikadale),
3-4 or more Fried Green chillies
Salt,Cilantro,Curry leaves
until very smooth.


Then add 2-3 Cups of grated Radish,
grind to a very smooth paste.
Add 1 cup low-fat sour cream or Dannon yoghurt, water if needed,
to grind again.NO HEATING AT ALL!!
Season with Ghee,mustard seeds,red chillies
Curry leaves,3-4 garlic chopped,add to gojju when cooled.


To Make Ragi rounds You Need:

You need about 1 cup of Ragi (Red Millet) flour,
1/2 tsp salt,
1 to 1 1/4 Cup water and
1 tsp ghee.




Boil water,salt,ghee and 2 tbsp of flour in a non-stick pan, keep stirring with a wooden spoon until it bubbles.Turn down the heat to simmer.Now add the ragi flour ladlefuls at a time, stirring vigorously until you get a semi-solid polenta like consistency making sure there are no lumps and cover and let it cook.



Posted by PicasaAfter few mins, open the lid and see if it comes to a soft ball leaving the sides clean.Tranfer it to a plate. Serve with ghee in the center and radish gojju. Very tasty, healthy meal!! To eat, take a big marble sized piece from the ball, dip it in ghee, roll
it in gojju and swallow!! DO NOT CHEW!! ( Stop gagging and swallow! NOW!..LOL..)


Or if you are not familiar with ragi flour, you can serve this radish gojju with plain rice, mini papads and some fried yoghurt chillies,equally tasty!!

For Ragi Rottis With Khara Chutney Or Cornmeal Rottis:
Add a little more ragi flour while mixing to make a firm ball,cool and knead with some more dry flour,add onoin etc,. roll out to make ragi rottis to serve with Green chillies chutney! YUM!!! or you can use the same above cooking method to make white corn meal flour(Jola)rounds or rottis too!! Three-in-one recipe. Not bad,huh !! :D

Serve With Ragi Rounds And Ghee:


OR Serve With Rice, Mini Papads And Yogurt Chillies:

Posted by Picasa

Wishing You A Happy No Chewing Day!!

25 comments:

Menu Today said...

Hi Asha,
Radish Gojju is new to me.!!! I will give it a try soon. Thanks for sharing.

FH said...

Hi MT, Radish gojju tastes delicious inspite of creamish look!
Hope you will try!

Prema Sundar said...

Hi Asha,
radish gooju with ragi is new to me too.I do ragi adai but in a different way without cooking. thanks for a new and diff recipe.

Anonymous said...

Have heard about this type of ragi but never tried.Radish gojju sounds interesting.Will try it for sure.

Anonymous said...

Asha, I have never tried radish gojju before. This sounds great. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I was nostalgic when I saw this recipe, we used to eat this a lot when I was in India, even though this is not exactly the staple of brahmins, but I used to see the servants in my house being served this and I would force my mom to make me some too. Thanks for this recipe, it sure did bring back a lot of memories.

Deepa

FH said...

Prema! We make ragi dosa ,ragi rotti,porridge etc. with same flour, yummy!!

Thanks Jaya! If you look at the ingredients it's almost like coconut chutney with radish!!Delicious!!

Thanks Mandira, hope you will try! I never post anything which doesn't taste good but might post very unfamiliar dishes!! :D

Hi Deepa, in my thatha's home it's staple food but we make it occasionally,and I make ragi rottis more than ragi rounds !!They both taste good though!Thanks!

Meena Kandlakuti said...

Asha,
this is new with radish which iam seeing..thanks for sharing..diss is great.

Anonymous said...

I have never tried ragi mudde Asha. I would love to try them atleast once, have heard a lot about them.

Your thathas story reminded me of my grandfather(abbu). I was his fav grandchild. He had a set of false teeth, but never wore them. My maternal grandfather was also a lovely person, but he was a modern fella. He always wore suits and just 2-3 months before he died, he came for a US trip(it was his dream). He was a Rotarian.

FH said...

Thanks Meena! I highly recommend radish gojju...:)

Shilpa! I had tears in my eyes when I read abt your abbu! sounds like my thatha, sweet guys aren't they? My other eatate grandfather looked like European,always 'proper' unlike my sweet thatha who was simple but very lovable,like a big teddy bear! They don't make men like them anymore..sigh..
Thanks and do try radish & Muddhe once , new flavors are always welcome!

Anonymous said...

Is the radish cooked or used raw?
Thanks,
anon

FH said...

RAW and NO heating at all except adding fried green chillies and cooled seasoning!! It is served at room Temp. It is like coconut chutney with radish! :)

Krithika said...

Raddish gojju is new to me. Will try this soon. Thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Hi Asha,
What a coincident, I just posted raggi mudde on by blog and seeing the same here. Never made radish gojju or heard about it before. It must be a malenad speciality. Looks yummy Thanks for the recipe.

FH said...

Really Madhu! I will go right now and take a look! I thought not many people knew!! :D
Malnadu is around Hassan estate area actually and they don't make ragi etc. Only rice rottis for them. But around Mysore farms, ragi is used often.
Actually, I think I saw in some blog ragi balls was made with cooked rice mixed, cannot remember whose but I NEVER made mixed rice before though!Thanks Madhu!

Unknown said...

Hi Asha,
When I was in coorg, having a breakfast of ragi Muddhe and tomato chutney, i was praying one of our blog buddies posts this recipe. And see, God actually hears me out- I loved the simplicity and nutritive value of these ragi balls...and sure enough, i'm getting a pack of ragi maavu today, thanks to ur recipe.

Loved reading the thatha story too...

FH said...

Ragi and tomato chutney! New idea!!
Bulb went on in my head :)
My dad is from mysore,mom Malenad. I got best of both world! They are very different,day and night,mom looks like scottish woman,& dad tall, dark and handsome! Eat different foods too :D
Ragi comes from mysore, while rice rottis are staple in mom,s. Isn't it little confusing :D :D
My Mysore thatha was a darling,I miss him :(
Thanks girl...

Rekha said...

hey, I thought dalia was(is) broken wheat If I am not mistaken

FH said...

You are right! Dalia,in some cook books say it's hurigadale and in some as broken wheat!! I don't know what else to call that thing :D

In English, they say 'roasted chana dal' which can be confused with chana dal roasted in oil and sometimes I say 'chutney dal' hoping that people can get it,but can be any dal.
Phew!! I have no clue, so I put up the photo to be safe!What would you say usually when posting, in english, I mean? HELP!!!

Rapabi said...

Hi there,
Radish gojju seems interesting with mudde.I remema recipe similar to this which my grandma used to make and really tasty.

Maggiga hulli
Beat curd with a churner. Grind coconut, green chillies,chutneydal,kotmir fineand then coaresly onion and garlic. Add to the curd. Dont need to cook and great combwith mudde. if anybody tries let me know how it tasted.of course salt to taste. need to boil please.

FH said...

Hi Bina,thanks.Hope you try Radish gojju,really really tasty with Mudde.
Thanks for Maggiga Huli recipe.I would love to try that as well and I will let you know if you have a blog.Nice to meet you Bina.Hope you come back and give me more recipes:))

Hema said...

Hi Asha ,

I tried this recipe and it came out so yummy , it was too good . Both me and my husband enjoyed this delicious gojju with rice. Thanks for the recipe.

FH said...

Hema, how are you girl? :))

Glad you tried this. Inspite of the bland color of this gojju, it tastes absolutely delicious, my fave too. Thanks for the feedback, enjoy. Hugs to you!:))

ruchikacooks said...

Superb! We also make a daikon chutney and I sent this link to N, he is already telling me make this for the next time..

FH said...

Ruchika, it's similar to chutney recipe but adding some yogurt. Make it spicy, tastes better. I add 2-3 Thai chillies!! HHHOT!!:D