Monday, October 12, 2009

MULO (RADISH) BADA AND OTHERS

BaDas ( not dip fried pakoDa or Medu BaDa, Orissa BaDa etc, but Tawa fried) are my favorite. These are made out of typical  vegetables, coconut too. As a Bengali, my Dal and rice eating is not complete with out some " Bhaja" or BaDa.
Of course these were great accompaniment with the great " Pakhala" ( Basi or saja or with dahi (Oriya), panta bhat in Bengal) in my childhood days and also lately in Vietnam and Kuwait summer days.
So here is a BaDa I relish among others. Variations and options are also given.Try it out as a snack too.

INGREDIENTS.
The quantities are immaterial , do whatever you like.
1. Coarse grated Mulo ( Radish)about 3-to 4 mm thickness and long strand ( as it comes out off a coarse manual grater). Don't grate fine and should be thicker than what you see in the photo below.
2. Chopped green chili as much as you like or tolerate.
3. Grated ginger ( not much)
4. Chopped coriender leaves ( optional)
5. Grated Coconut ( optional ) use if you have it handy. Don't waste time making it.
6. Dash of red chili and cumin powder.(Optional)
7. Binder (important) . NO BESAN SHALL BE USED. If you have a Tempura mix nothing like that  else use a mix of  70% rice powder, 15% Semolina, and 15 % whole wheat flour ( ata). If you dont have rice poweder use 50: 50 semolina and Ata....if this is oppressing , use 100%b Ata. ( No Maeda )
8. Salt to taste.
9. Oil for shallow frying.


PROCESS
1. Salt the grated Muli, mix well and  keep aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze our water and keep aside.
2, Mix all ingredients. Add few spoons  of the dry  binder mix so that it just coats the material and not visible. Excess binder will spoil the taste. Add just enough to stick the material together. NO WATER TO BE ADDED. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
3. Take a non stick Tawa ( frying pan) and put oil for shallow frying ( tawa Fry) and heat.
 3. Make flat rounds 30-40 mm and  about 6-8 mm thick. ( Dont worry about the thickness or size, will be taken care )
4. Place one by one on the Tawa and allow to fry


5. Reverse the BaDas one by one and flatten it as far as possible with the spatula, (Khuni , Pitha KhaDika)
6. sprinkle oil if necessary.
7. Reverse again if necessary. A little burn out here and there is OK and adds to the taste and crispiness..


8. Now eat the BaDas hot  as it is or as an accompaniment with Dal and Rice.

It will be surface crispy.

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN USE.

1. Replace Mulo ( Radish) with chopped coriander leaves or thinly sliced cabbage or  Sag, ( Saga / Amaranth half boiled and sqeezed out) or  grated potato or coconut grated or stretch your imagination.. Don't use Spinach.
  
DON'T USE BESAN FOR THIS KIND OF BADAS.  Besan flavor is very strong and  over powering for this recipe.

HAPPY COOKING AND EATING 

16 comments:

Sharmila said...

This sounds really wonderful ... especially the no deep frying part. I think I'll use some corflour for the binding .. will try this out soon.
I remember some relatives mashing up the biri bada and enjoy with panto bhaat. I loved it too but was not allowed to eat at my home. :-)

prasu said...

it's totally new rcipe for me....sure wil try it sometime....

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sharmila
I never tried 100% corn flour in batter or as a binder.( except for all Indo-Chinese chicken dishes to use as a sealant of the meat surface).
Let me know how it comes out.
Happy Diwali
Ushnish

sangeeta said...

Hi Ushnish..
came here through pari's blog n found this mulo boda....khub bhalo laglo bora ta...ami mulo parota kori makki atta use kore.....bangla thik likhechhi to ?
he he......i think you once try it with makki ka atta it will be marvellous....i think tempura flour is so good ...but as much i know about tempura flour , it is all purpose flour with some raising agent....please enlighten me about that.

Gouri Guha said...

Usnish,
Thanks for sharing this recipe...something very new to me. I'll try it out without coconut...I don't like coconut...and will use atta and semolina for binding as I don't have rice powder.
As for my social work, I give sometime to the school that's set up by an NGO run by Senior Citizens in Vasant Kunj. The children come from the nearby jhuggies but are intelligent and pick up studies very soon. And at the end of the day there is a feeling of happiness and joy...from the Sharing Effort that I have put in.
Happy Diwali,
Gouri:)

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sangeeta
Khub sundor bangla likhechho..You must be having some Bong connection.
I haven't tasted Muli ka Paratha with makki ki atta. I will look for it in your blog. If it is not there already, please put the recipe. paratha season is coming (fattening time) !!!!
Now I realize I shouldn't have used the word Tempura mix here.
Actually during my stay in Korea, I used to buy a pack of cheap tempura mix and use it for PakoDas, BaDas and some times Tempura too. (Besan was a rare commodity where I stayed, and if the Pakistani Vendor was kind enough to visit us, we could get some at exorbitant price)

Broadly speaking Tempura mix is basically 50: 50 mixture of corn flour and wheat flour (Maida), It may contain rice flour too, a yellow dye some times for cosmetic purpose.( Like KFC)
The Tempura doesn't drink up oil like Besan binder. The trick lies in making the bater so that after frying, it gives a gritty look. I hope you are bit enlightened. ha ha
I think I should make some Tempura soon and if I am successful, will post a blog here. ( Let me check Sharmila might have made it already)
Regards and Happy Diwali

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Gouri
Nice to know about the social work you are doing. I am sure someday you will put down more on this in your blog.
In this BaDa, every thing is optional, as I have mentioned. We just need the Mulo or others, the binder and the salt. . Then the mild flavor of the fried Mulo, or cabbage or Sag in maintained. Dont use coconut.To be very frank, I had stolen little bit of grated coconut which was kept for making NaDus. ha ha

Best regards and Happy Diwali

Sushma Mallya said...

sounds very interesting,never used radish for making it...Nice recipe,will surely give it a try..

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Sushma
Many thanks for visiting my blog. Try it , I am sure you will like it even with cabbage or Sag.
Will be visiting your blog shortly.
Regards and Happy Deepavali.
Ushnish

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Mula Bada - never tried it... I think my mom had an easier way to fool me to eat that as a kid. She used to grate and add to the dal and put ghee and jeera and hing chunka... ANd I didnt realize it and ate it happily until I was too old to throw a tantrum about it...
Your bada looks so yum. Have to try it to fool my daughter to eat some healthy veggies....

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Hi Somoo
ha! ha! Thats a good one indeed. If you don't like Mula, use Dhania patta or Cabbage, all these are equally useless except some minerals.
I remember when my elder daughter was just 3 years, she loved to eat sliced raw Karela like KakuDi (cucumber)and stopped suddenly when she came to know any thing bitter was bad.(Now she loves the cooked ones though). By the way Mom's Dal recipe is great we often make it with Kancha MunGa or Matara Dali.
cooked one stupid Biri dali yesterday (on a req from a friend to send the recipe), will upload later
enjoy festival time

prasu said...

Hi Ushnish,
thank you for ur comments....yep, the costal andhra recipes are totally different from hyderabad cuisine.......our cusine has lots of stong flavors and loads of spices........Banapeppers are very mild peppers, they are unique with their cruchy and mild falvours......Happy Diwali.

Desisoccermom said...

Hi Ushnish,

Came here from Sangeeta's blog. You have a very interesting and refreshing way of describing the method of your recipes. Liked the mulo badas recipe.

My Experiments with Food said...

Hi, Received your ref from Sangeeta's blog. And you have a great space and tempting recipes. Will surely try some of the veg ones.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Jaya
Many thanks for visiting and the appreciation. Please do visit again.
I will be visiting your site soon
Regards
Ushnish

Ushnish Ghosh said...

@My Experiments with Food
Dear friend
Thanks for visiting. I will pack some thing for my vege friends..You can for the time being try out the recipe with fast fried Paneer in place of Fish
ushnish