KOHLRABI WHITE GRAVY ( NOOKAL KURUMA)

Kohlrabi, is called as nookal in south India. Kohlrabi is commonly used in sambhar, curries and in kuruma.  Its a fiber rich food enriched with full of vitamins and other vital nutrients. Its a winter season vegetable. Its stems are also edible, if they are cooked properly.  I tried making a white gravy with kohlrabi as a side dish for roti with a fusion of kuruma's flavour. Even though the colour is plain, it was full of flavour. Hope you too will try it for a change escaping from red, yellow, orange colour gravies for a day. 


Ingredients:


1. Kohlrabi - 2 medium size ( chopped into chunks)
2. Onion - 1 ( thinly sliced)
3. Milk - 1 cup


To grind:


1. Fresh coconut - 1 tbs
2. Fried gram dhal - 1 tbs (pottukadalai / chutney dhal)
3. Green chillies - 1 or 2 (according to taste)
4. Fennel seeds - 2 tsp ( sombu / saunf)
5. White poppy seeds - 3 tsp ( kas kas)
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece
7. Garlic - 6-7 cloves 


Seasoning :


1. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
2. Bay leaf - 2
3. Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbs 


Method:


1.  Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and bay leaf. Once the mustard seeds got popped, add thinly sliced onions to the pan, add fry for 1 or 2 minutes. No need to fry onions to brown, as we are making white gravy, it will appear odd.


2. Add kohlrabi pieces, fry for 2 -3 minutes. Add 2 cups of waters to the vessel. Add salt, and cook with closed lid. Cook until it becomes soft. Its better if the water in the pan is almost absorbed by the vegetable. 


3. Add the grind paste to the cooked vegetable and keep stirring for few minutes. Slow the flame, add 1/2 cup of cold water and 1 cup of milk  simultaneously . Keep stirring without leaving your hands to avoid curdling of milk. 


4. 3-4 minutes later you can raise the flame to medium,  the gravy will start thickening.   You can sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top of the gravy and transfer to a serving bowl. It goes well with roti etc.


Alternative :- To reduce the fat content, I have reduced the amount of coconut and substituted fried gram dhal. The other option is you can use cashew nuts instead of fried gram dhal . 2) you can use just coconuts alone . 3)  And also you can substitute coconut milk, but the total version of the gravy gets change to stew.