Radish Pods Gravy (Mulangi Saangi Ambat)

Mulangi Saang are tender beans of radish that have small seeds. If you don’t take out radish roots when they are grown and leave for few more days, the plants develop these pods. These are very delicious and used to make a couple of dishes when available. At my maternal town – Sirsi, these were very popular and available in Santhe – a weekly market similar to farmer’s market, where the farmers sell all kinds of vegetables. I have grown up eating these from a young age.

At my husband’s place, our supply used to come from a neighbor who had a big vegetable garden, now they have converted it into something else, so we usually buy it from outside. Many people here do not know about these delicious beans, as they are not very common in this part.

We found these last week at Indian store here. It was a pleasant surprise. We bought a big batch and I made this gravy. These beans are not as long as green beans. So just remove the ends and use them.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toor dal
1/2 cup fresh/frozen coconut
3/4 cup radish pods (mulangi saang)
1 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 tea spn tamarind extract or 2 pieces of tamarind
1 tea spn mustard seeds
A pinch asafoetida
4-5 red chillies
A pinch turmeric
Oil
4-5 curry leaves
Salt

Method:
Cook toor dal along with radish pods and a pinch of turmeric till dal is done.
Heat a little oil and add coriander seeds. Grind with coconut, red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste.
Add the paste to cooked dal mixture, add enough water, salt to bring it to a gravy consistency. Bring it to a boil and take off the heat.
In another pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves cut into pieces, asafoetida. Pour this over the gravy and immediately close the lid.
Serve hot with rice and any side dish.

Serves : 4-5
Preparation time : 20 mins

Variations : Those who do not want to use coconut for any reason can leave it out and use double the amount of dal. Follow the remaining recipe as mentioned above (for the paste just grind together fried coriander, chillies/chilli powder and tamarind). It tastes very good this way too.

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