Radish and Chickpea Curry (Mulangi Kadali Kozhambu)

This is yet another great recipe from Atul Kochhar from his book Simple Indian, which has yet to produce even a mediocre dish. They have all been fantastic. This one just has daikon and chickpeas. You'd think it would be boring. It was great! The tamarind is really pulling a lot of weight here, adding a nice sweetness to counter the spices.

We put this over Turmeric Rice (like we do for most curries) and it was wonderful. We used a whole can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) instead of raw, and we skipped the step where you cook them. Also, we used a whole can of coconut milk, instead of 300g. Lastly, if you can't find tamarind pulp, some tamarind syrup works just fine.

200 g chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
30 g tamarind pulp
200 g mooli or daikon (white radish)
2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves
1" piece cassia bark or cinnamon stick
2 green cardamom pods
1 large onion, chopped
½ teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder
¾ teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
1 tomato, finely chopped
300 milliliters coconut milk
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped, plus extra sprigs

Drain the chickpeas and cook in fresh water with the bay leaf for about 2 hours until tender, adding salt towards the end; drain. Soak the tamarind pulp in 6 tbsp warm water for 20 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve.

Halve the mooli lengthways, then cut across into 5mm thick slices. Heat the oil in a saute pan and fry the mooli slices until lightly browned at the edges; remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Add the whole spices to the pan and saute for 1-2 minutes until they crackle. Add the onion and saute until softened and golden brown. Add the powdered spices, stir for 30 seconds, then add the ginger-garlic paste and saute well for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in the tamarind liquid, simmer briefly, then add the coconut milk, chickpeas and mooli. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-5 minutes until the mooli is tender.

Sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve garnished with extra sprigs.