Leafy Greens with Chickpea Flour | Mooli Besan Sabji

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I love winter's especially for the bountiful greens we get this season. Yes after Undhiyo, the next favorite in my house is mooli besan sabji also called as " moola nu loot walu shaak " in Gujarati. Many of us eat radish as a salad only. But this is what i personally adore Indian cooking for the variety in which we cook the same vegetable in different forms and own it to the best possible flavor. 

We eat the root as well as the leafy part both in various forms, as a salad just with a sprinkle of salt of course, make mooli root pickle called atheli mooli ( marinated mooli ), grated mooli paratha's, and a variety other ways and the best part is the taste varies from household to household and states too. Love the diversity Indian cuisine has to offer.

INGREDIENTS 

mooli root grated

mooli greens finely chopped

olive oil

cumin seeds / jeera

asafoetida / hing

green garlic ( available in the season - i use homegrown if available ) 

ginger finely chopped

turmeric powder

red chilli powder

coriander cumin powder

chickpea flour / besan

salt

PROCEDURE 

1) Wash and chop mooli greens and grate mooli root, keep aside. I just used finely chopped mooli greens as i planned on eating the mooli root as salad along with it. Sometimes i use both the root and the greens, it tastes yumm...

Chop garlic and ginger fine OR pulse it fine. In this sabji there is nothing like more or less of ginger garlic, fresh green garlic is easily available so use fresh 

I used the homegrown fresh garlic which I grow at home.

2) Heat oil in a pan. I prefer using ghee or olive oil for tempering / tadka always. Add cumin seeds, hing, turmeric powder, chopped garlic and ginger and saute well.

3) Add in the greens and the grated mooli along with the dry spice powders and salt at this point and mix well. 

4)  The mooli greens will ooze the water content in it and become mushy and dark green in color.

5) I add little water at this point and let it boil. 

6) Once the boiling starts time to slow the flame and add in the chicpea flour slowly in intervals. 

HOW TO AVOID FORMING LUMPS WHILE ADDING CHICPEA FLOUR ?
You can OFF the flame at this point too and continue adding the flour in intervals to avoid lumps. Previous years I used to make a thick paste of chicpea flour with water and add after 4), but the texture of the sabji surely differs in both the process once its ready. You can make and see the difference to yourself. I prefer doing whatever seems easy in case of cooking as i personally do not follow the rules and opt for what suits me. 

7) Mix all the flour well.

8) Add more water or more flour, as you like it more or less. In our house we prefer more mooli greens as to the flour, so add less flour.

9) Cover and cook at this point for sometime on low flame to give it a steam.

10 ) The excess water will dry out and we like it this way. Mooli beasan sabji is ready to be served.

Plating accompaniments

Today I planned to make mooli besan sabji with skinless urad dal, roti, mooli salad, rice and papad.

We make urad dal on Saturday, so this sabji goes well with it. Here is a picture of my Saturday lunch platter. Well papad is missing as I took the picture before hand. 

Variations to this recipe 
Apart from radish / daikon greens you can use a variety of green vegetables like : beetroot greens, carrot greens, methi / fresh fenugreek , spinach, mustard greens, variety of kale, and many more. Every green vegetable imparts a unique flavor to this recipe.  


You may also like : 

- Baingan Bharta


- Drumstick Curry


- Homegrown Fresh Green Garlic Saute 


- Kobi nu Sambhariyu


- Parval