Kohlrabi Sukke

Many thanks to all those who left me comments and e-mails asking if we are doing OK here in St. Louis. This region has been in the news lately because of the devastating flooding of the mighty Mississippi river and its tributaries. North of us, the swollen river breached levees/flood-banks and sent huge swatches of land under water. Many people watched helplessly as their homes were set adrift and tens of thousands of acres of farmland (that normally feeds much of the US) is now under water. By the time the river has come down to us in St. Louis, the damage has been done, the levels are under control (more or less) and we don't expect any flooding here.

All this leads me to wonder about the fate of our food supply this year. Flooding of farmland is a huge tragedy for farmers, and something that will affect everyone who eats, essentially. Last week, I was at the Farmers' Market and bought such wonderful local produce; I don't know about the coming months...

One of my finds last week was kohlrabi (called navalkol in Marathi). If I remember correctly, this vegetable was made only infrequently in my parents' home (usually as a raw koshimbir/salad) and I had never cooked with it either. I decided to tackle it one evening in the past week and decided on this Kohlrabi sukke from Shilpa's blog. If you want to fall in love with kohlrabi, this simple dish is it! Cooked kohlrabi is simmered in a flavorful coconut paste in this wonderful Konkani recipe. It is a recipe that is so typical of Shilpa's blog- home-style cooking at its very best. The kohlrabi that I bought had a nice top of fresh leaves, so I added them to the curry.

Kohlrabi Sukke

(Adapted from Aayi's Recipes)

Ingredients:
1 bunch kohlrabi
1 medium onion, diced
1 t turmeric powder
1 t oil
1-2 t jaggery (unrefined sugar)
salt to taste
For the paste:
1 heaped t urad dal
1 heaped t coriander seeds
1 t oil
½ C grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
2 dried red chillies (or to taste)
¼ C tamarind juice

Method:
1. Remove the leaves from the kohlrabi. Discard any discolored ones, wash the rest very well and shred them finely. Set aside.
2. Wash the kohlrabi and halve each one. Pressure cook them. They don't need prolonged pressure cooking. One whistle was enough in my pressure cooker.
3. Pluck off any tough stems from the cooked kohlrabi and cut them into small dice.
4. Meanwhile, fry the urad dal, coriander seeds and red chillies in the oil. Then blend these into a smooth paste with the coconut and tamarind.
5. In a saucepan, fry the onion until it is translucent. Add the shredded kohlrabi leaves and turmeric and stir-fry them until they are almost tender. Add the cooked kohlrabi cubes, coconut paste, jaggery, salt to taste and a little water if required and simmer the curry for 5-10 minutes.

This dish is a wonderful example of coastal cuisine- using a freshly made paste of mild and creamy coconut, tangy tamarind and a few carefully chosen spices to cook flavorful vegetable dishes. I am sending this post to Suganya for AFAM: Coconut and to Sig for JFI: Tamarind.

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MBP Update: We now have one more giveaway associated with this event!! Anjali Damerla of Supreme Spice has kindly offered to send a bottle of spice extract to each of three randomly chosen participants. The spice extracts that are being given away happen to be ones that I have tried and loved- Ginger, Tea Masala and Cardamom. Shipping of these will be restricted to the US. I have updated this new giveaway in the MBP announcement post.

Knitting Crochet Update:
When I told my friend Sujayita that I have started knitting, she said to me, "If you can knit, I don't see why you shouldn't learn crochet as well" and promptly sent me a crochet book- Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker (tee hee). Who am I to resist? Last week, I sat down and laboriously taught myself a few basic stitches from the book, and fell in love with crochet easily enough.

Here are my first two projects- baby steps towards becoming a bag lady!

Bracelet Purse: this is a cute pattern from Knotty Generation.

It is a tiny purse with one short and one long handle; the long handle slips into the small one and then onto the wrist as a bracelet.


It is just big enough to hold my keys and cell phone and go along on my wrist when I am out walking Dale. But my little hot blue purse had a near-death experience at the dog park the other day when a puppy thought it was a toy and snatched it from my wrist. I am happy to report that the purse survived and the poor puppy was chastised :D




I loved the pattern so much that I made three to give as gifts, including this one in "faded denim".


I also made a very big mesh shopping bag! It is a pattern that is wonderful for beginners, generously shared by Jill Chatelain. She aptly calls it the "Rust Goes Green" bag. Who needs paper or plastic when you have these nice reusable cotton bags?


Have a great week ahead!