Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Stir-fry Watercress(Halim Shak) & Radish Green (mulo shak)

Wonderful Watercress…Mother Nature’s idea
for the perfect natural multi-vitamin, body cleansing detoxicant, and curative powerhouse...an ancient green traced back to Persians, Greeks, and Romans....a powerful antioxidant....this green weed/aquatic plant carries a peppery and mild tangy flavour.
Watercress is a better source of vitamins C, B1, B6, K, E, Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc, and Potassium than Apples, Broccoli, and Tomatoes…It is a true SUPER-VEGGIE!
By weight, Watercress has more calcium than milk, more vitamin C than an orange and more absorbable Iron than Spinach (spinach is loaded with Oxlactic/Oxalic acid, which blocks the natural absorption of iron)
For more information on Watercress visit this and this link.
watercress is claimed to be of assistence with :
cancer relief and cure, blood purifier, skin clarifier, kidney problems, kidney stones, infections, infertility and many more...
Pic. Source : www.watercress.com

Nomenclature

Botanical: Lepidum sativum
English: Cress, Watercress
Sanskrit: Chandrasura
Hindi: Chansaur, Jal-Kumbhi
Bengali: Halim; (Jal) Halim-saak
Gujarati: Asaliya
Marathi : Ali
Tamil: Ativerai
Telegu : Adiyaalu
(sorry, friends....before I've reffered watercress in bengali as Kolmi saak, which is wrong, after lots of research, I've found out from some right source, that It is known as halim shak, I've updated all the names)

Now to the recipe.....I like to cook watercress this simple way without much spices..............


Ingredients :
Watercress : 1 or 2 bunch
Eggplant/bringal : 1/2 cup (cubed)
Dry red chilli : 1(break in half)
Black cumin seed/kalonji : 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder : 2 tsp.
Green chilli : 1 (chopped)
Oil : 2 tblsp.
Salt to taste

Method :
  • Wash watercress bunch under running tap. Drain and then chop in small pieces.
  • Heat oil in a pan, when oil is hot almost smoking, add dry red chilli and kalonji seeds. When chilli turns brown, add green chillies and chopped up watercress and eggplant. Stir, at this time, watercress will release little amount of water. Let the water evaporate, then add salt and turmeric, mix well.
  • Stir for -3 minutes , then add 1/3 cup water to cook. Cover the pan and in medium flame let it cook. When water dries up, add salt to taste. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. You are done.
Serve hot with plain rice...once you taste it, you'll fall in love with this green vege.

Stir-fry radish green(mulo shak bhaja)

Radish green is also a good source of Iron and taste great. I make radish green in the same manner as watercress. Use the green part of radish(chopped), some chopped radish, bringal/eggplant and spices are same as above recipe. Also cook in the same manner. Taste great with white rice.

Amaranth, another superfood, loaded with minerals and vitamins..for recipe and to know the health benefits of amaranth, click here.
All these green, totally nutritious recipes are going to a great event SWC : Cooking with Green started by Lakshmi of Taste of mysore and this time hosted by Sowmya of Creative saga












18 comments:

Unknown said...

wonderful entries indrani...great info too..am so glad to get such unique entries for the event..thanks a lot!!

Indrani said...

you are welcome, Sowmya..waiting for the round-up..great event idea

Suparna said...

hi Indrani,
simple and healthy dishes.Haven't tasted watercress as yet. nice entry for the event.

Sharmila said...

Watercress ke kolmi shaak bole!!! Jantam na! Kotodin kolmi shaak khaini .. jokhon baite hoto khetam na ... ar ekhon pai na. :-(
Dutoi khub bhalo ar simple recipe Indrani. :-)

Parita said...

Wow thats wonderful curry...unusual combination :)

Unknown said...

Very nice recipe and lot of nutritional info.

delhibelle said...

what a delightful way to eat watercress, i always see it around and didn't quite know what to do with it. Thank you:)

Jaya M said...

Indrani,
kolmi shaak ke english te ki bole ..ami jan taam na...thats very good info there ..
amader khob bhalo lage ekto bhaja-2 kore khete..
hugs and smiles

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

mmm healthy and a fabulous dish... so much of nutritions and a depicting picture... havent tried watercress shall bring them home next time!!!

Bong Mom said...

kolmi shaak kokhono khaini, khub bhalo hoyeche

Soma said...

kolmi shaag je watercress eta jantam na!! ami holam shaager rani, ki je shaag khetam chotobelai.. i would eat any greens very willingly much to the joy of my dida who would enthusiastically get more:-)

Indian Khana said...

Nice recipe with info...gud entry :)

eshoboshoaahare.blogspot.in said...

Nice info. with Kolmi shak...

sudu said...

Loved your info on watercress which inspired me to try it for the first time. We (me & my husband) both loved it. It came out a bit bitter to my palate- may be 1 c eggplant (1 whole big eggplant) would be more suitable.
Will try all your bengali dishes. Thank you.

Indrani said...

Thanks, Sudu....if my post inspired at least one person to try it, then my effort has paid off........if you think, it tasted little bitter, then add 1 tsp. sugar to it and you don't need much egglant, just add 1/2 of an eggplant in 1 bunch watercress.

sudu said...

That is so sweet of you Indrani! I love saag and buy and eat whatever's around. I recently bought some fennel greens and tried frying them with potatoes- Ok but not really great. Have you cooked them before- can you pls suggest a way to cook them? Thanks so much.

Indrani said...

Sorry, Sudu..I never tried fennel green, have no idea how to cook that...sorry that I couldn't help you

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