Daikon - Coconut Chutney / Mullangi - Kobbari Pachchadi

When Nupur invited us, the fellow bloggers to participate in the alphabetical journey of Indian (vegetables) cooking, I began to wonder which vegetable began with the letter 'D'. I searched my refrigerator and found only one vegetable which started with the letter 'D'. So, I tried to remember the other names for the vegetabes I had. Then I realised the poor Daikon did not even figure out in my list. I use that name only when I see it in grocery shop. I grew up learning the vegetable's name as radish and still it remains the same even after living for 9 years in USA. I think, my people back home would not even remotely link that word to a vegetable, if I mention it. I hope Nupur would accept this entry as daikon is available in India , even though not under the same name (as far as I know).
Now let me come to the recipe. I have been preparing Daikon / Mullangi chutney from a long time, for which I got the recipe from a popular Kannada website. This time, I thought of giving an Andhra twist and prepared it in an entirely different way. I followed the method my mom employs when preparing chutneys using vegetables. You can also prepare this using those red colored, round shaped radish.

Ingredients required for the chutney:
Peeled and sliced Daikon - 1 cup
Grated fresh coconut - 1/4 cup
Tamarind extract - 1 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Red chillies - 6 - 8 (8 worked for me. If you prefer it to be less spicy, go with 6 chillies)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Methi Seeds) - A few (Half of 1/4 tsp)
Asafoetida (Hing) - A few pinches (Half of 1/4 tsp)



Method:
Soak tamarind in water to get the extract.
Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dal and mustard seeds. When urad dal start to turn slightly brown, add methi seeds, hing and red chillies. When the mustard seeds and methi seeds turn reddish brown in color, add the sliced daikon. (Methi seeds fry fast. So, don't add at the begining and also use only a small quantitiy as mentioned. Otherwise, it turns chutney bitter).
Stir once, close the pan with a lid and lower the heat. Let it cook till the daikon slices turn tender. Stir once or twice in between. Remove the pan and let the daikon mixture cool down.
Grind this mixture with the coconut, tamarind and salt in a mixer / blender till smooth. I had to add about a tbsp of water to grind it.
Remove and collect the chutney in a bowl.
Serve with rice, rotis or any breakfast dishes.

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