This post is about Korean Style Pickled Radish called Danmuji. Pickling is a form of preserving produce that is practiced across the world. What differs is what is pickled and how pickling process happens. Koreans are no different. Korean Style Pickled Radish or Danmuji is bright yellow coloured Banchan (Korean side dish). I understand Danmuji translates as “sweet pickled radish”. So taste wise, Danmuji is somewhat sweet, salty, slightly tart and crunchy. Korean meals typically consist of rice or noodles, soup or stew served with side dishes called Banchan. The Banchan generally balance out t ..read more

Kimchi is a fermented salty, mildly sweet, sour and spicy Korean condiment. The most common kind of Kimchi is made with salted Chinese cabbage, white radish, carrot, spring onion greens and a variety of seasonings. This condiment can be made with other vegetables too. While Kimchi tends to have non-vegetarian ingredients traditionally, it can be made vegetarian too. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a vegetarian/ vegan Easy Kimchi. Since it is fermented, it is a gut healthy food. Kimchi is believed to have originated in Korea over 3000 years ago as a way to preserve summer produce for the extre ..read more

I do believe that if there’s a food that can be pickled, Indians will do it. It’s a great way to preserve something you have plenty of, or before it goes out of season. Just think of the sheer variety of common and more unusual pickles that are made across India. I came across Moringa or Drumstick Pickle some time back. Moringa or Drumstick fruit being pickled was new to me as I’ve not seen this being done back home.   I do believe that Moringa or Drumstick Pickle is perhaps native to Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. There Moringa or Drumstick fruit is known as Munnakaya. Everywhere outside ..read more

Let me start by Translating Peerkangai Thogayal to English. Peerkangai is the Tamil name for the Ridge Gourd. Thogayal is a Tamil word that describes a thick and slightly chunky chutney, usually with a bit of coconut and sometimes lentils. If you’re not familiar with Peerkangai or Ridge Gourd, it is a dark green, long and slender gourd with thin ridges along its length. It is a much grown and eaten vegetable across India and best eaten while still tender. Here in our home, it’s a vegetable I rarely buy because none of us really like it. To be honest, I cannot remember when I last bought ..read more

I’m taking a three week break as we’re going on a short holiday. So it is going to be mid-November before I post again. Before I go, I must tell you that I came across Tamarillos or Tree Tomatoes of this season. This is the season for them and perhaps all I’m going to see of them this time. They seem to have a rather short season here. I rarely see them for more than three weeks and they’re gone. Last year I made some Tamarillo and Pear Jam. This year I decided to make some Tamarillo Apple Chutney with them. The Tamarillo is originally from South America and belongs to the same family as tomat ..read more

One of the nice things about many Indian villages, towns and some cities is that vendors bring fresh produce to your doorstep. I live in a large city so that’s not something that happens often. Most Saturdays, a vegetable seller brings fresh leafy vegetables to my door. She usually has a variety of amaranth, spinach, fenugreek leaves, coriander, mint, etc. She also brings other vegetables. I almost always buy greens from her, sometimes in quantities larger than I need. I have devised various methods of cutting, cooking and freezing so that nothing goes waste. Today, I’m sharing my recipe for m ..read more