Pickled and Spicy Radish Greens: a simple and delectable solution to the question of “What can I do with the lovely fresh greens that come with a bunch of red radishes?” Throwing them away seems so wasteful! On a whim, I decided to try making a spicy pickle with them. After all, pickled radish is a popular item in many parts of the world. Perhaps I could turn the greens into a good pickle too!
What is the hallmark of a good pickle? Often, it is simply the tart and salty taste; many are spicy too, and inevitably tickle and awaken our tastebuds. Sometimes, we pickle an item that is already sour, or we let it become sour through fermentation, and it develops sourness along the way. In other cases, as with cucumber pickle, we add something acidic to it – vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, etc.
So, that’s what I used as my game plan. I sliced the greens into thin ribbons, then cut them across, to get them finely chopped. I then added some spices, including Amchur to provide tartness, and microwaved it for about a minute. The volume reduced to half what it was, I mixed in some lemon juice and a bit more salt. Now for the seasoned oil: I added Asoefetida (hing), Fenugreek (Methi) powder, and a little split mustard into heated oil. Then I added more red chilli powder and quickly poured this hot seasoned oil on the cooked radish greens, mixed it and viola! The pickle was ready!
It didn’t take long for it to be gone – we polished it off over the next couple of days. I had it with rice, Parathas, Dhirda and even tried a smidgeon on the Parmesan-pepper croutons I had just made. It was delicious, whichever way I had it.
So… never again will I toss out fresh radish greens … not when I know I can turn it into a lovely pickled and spicy condiment !
Pickled and Spicy Radish Greens
Equipment
- Microwave oven: if not available, can be made on stove-top (directions given in Recipe Notes)
- Salad spinner: to dry the greens after washing. If not available, towel drying works – it just takes a bit longer
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup radish greens – chopped finely from 1 bunch red radishes
- 1 tsp amchur
- 1/2 tsp fennel powder
- 1/8 tsp split mustard yellow, skinless; if not available, yello mustard powder is OK
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder (cayenne)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice- freshly squeezed fresh is best; if not available, bottled is OK
Oil seasoning
- 1 tbsp oil peanut oil or other mild oil; do not use olive oil
- 1/8 tsp Asoefetida (hing)
- 1 pinch fenugreek powder
- 1/8 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp split mustard yellow, skinless; if not available, yellow mustard powder is OK
Instructions
- Trim and thoroughly wash/rinse the radish greens in a colander. However, if there is a lot of grit stuck to the leaves, more thorough rinsing is needed. In that case: take a large pot of water and dunk the greens into it; loosen the leaves and shake them around in the water, to release the grit and let it settle to the bottom. Then wash thoroughly in a colander with lots of fresh water.
- Remove excess moisture; use a salad spinner, or spread the leaves on a towel, and allow to dry for about 10 min
- Chop the greens finely: first, cut into thin ribbons, then turn the cutting board 90 degrees and slice thinly again. Transfer the greens to a microwave safe bowl.
- Add all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice to the greens in the bowl.
- Do not mix; cover and cook for 1 min on high power
- Remove from microwave. the volume will be much less than before.
- Mix well and cook in the microwave for another minute, covered, high power. Remove, stir and set aside to cool for 5-10 min.
- When cooled, add lemon juice and stir. Taste and adjust the salt as per your preference.
- While the greens are cooling, prepare the seasoned oil: Heat oil in a small Tadka wok or a small saucepan. Add the Asoefetida (hing), fenugreek powder and split mustard – stir for about a minute.
- Remove from heat, add chilli powder and immediately pour the hot oil on the prepared radish greens mixture. Use a bit of the greens to mop up the residual oil sticking to the wok.
- Mix well: ready to eat!
- Serve as a condiment with any Indian meal – rice, chapati, roti, parathas, etc.
I had never used the raddish greens. Very nice and tasty way. Will try it now. I was thinking whether we can substitute raddish greens with cauliflower greens as cauliflower greens have high content of calicum.
Sure, you can try it with cauliflower leaves too. I have not, but maybe I will now! Cauliflower too makes good pickle, and the leaves have similar flavor, so certainly worth trying. I might add a bit more fennel powder to balance the very strong smell of cauliflower leaves. Maybe also add some Kalonji – just a little bit. Let me know how it turns out. By the way, you can try something else with tender cauliflower leaves – put them in the Bhaji for PavBhaji (I do that many times- it tastes a bit like cabbage)
Yes i will try in pav bhaji.
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This recipe sound really interesting, such a yummy pickle twist with greens. I will definitely try it!!
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Let me know how it turns out.
Very easy to make. I used rainbow chards as that is what I had in th house, This recipe should work well with a variety of greens.
so glad you tried it and liked it.
This is so creative! It’s amazing that you concocted this recipe. I love pickled food, and this will be a great addition to my rotation!
Let me know how it turns out!
Nice!
Not the same dish, obviously; but I forgot to ask you the other day whether you had tried my grandmother’s recipe for green salsa and what variations might you have tried with it.
I did try adding a few radish green leaves to the tomatillo salsa. I’m afraid I didn’t notice much difference in taste. I will try it again and compare the salsa with and without the radish greens…. after all, we need control experiments, right? 🙂
I doubled the recipe (1 cup of radish greens) and only got about 1/4 of a cup yield. This wasn’t my favorite recipe, but I do think that I would like it better if I used less of the seasonings. I paired the greens with tortilla chips and I might just have to pair it with something else
I’m sorry you didn’t particularly enjoy this pickle, Jessica.
I know that Radish greens can be rather pungent and are definitely an acquired taste; some things have a way of growing on you, even if you don’t particularly like them the first time you have them….
The seasonings are meant to balance the inherent radish pungency. I’m thinking that perhaps you might like it better after the flavors have melded, maybe in a couple of days. Try it!
With tortilla chips, I would use just a teeny bit as a topping and perhaps add a bit of shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream, or queso. The radish pickle will add a spicy kick, without becoming too overpowering.
The radish greens are nutrient-rich, so perhaps you might try tweaking the seasonings to your liking.
Thank you for your thoughtful review.
This dish was very easy to make and it is a great topping for any food or crackers. I really enjoyed making this dish and the outcome was great. I would recommend this dish to anyone who likes tangy and slightly spicy condiments!
So glad you liked this dish, Anu! I too love it on sandwiches and crackers – tangy, spicy…. wakes you up! Plus, it’s got lots of micro-nutrients as bonus!
Thanks for the review and star rating too! 🙂