Anita's Gogji Nadir (Turnips and Lotus Root)- Kashmiri cuisine in my kitchen

Gogji Nadir is this subtle dish from Kashmiri cuisine which combines turnips(shalgam/nulkol) and lotus root (kamal kakri/bhein)- a combination that I have never had before. In fact, these two vegetables don't make an appearance very often in my shopping bag - turnips, I do buy for about two months during winter because they make a good addition to the vegetables we eat. They are almost like potatoes in that sense - easily adaptable and go well with many other vegetables. But lotus stem I tend to ignore for the most part - most of the recipes I have tried just involve frying them till crispy; I do love the baked recipe on Jugalbandi though.

But the moment I saw this dish on Anita's blog, I knew I had to make it. The recipe is simplicity itself - less than 5 ingredients - and gets made in a jiffy. The fact that you are using vegetables which are in season makes it unnecessary to smother it with a lot of spices - the crisp flavours  of the vegetables shine through in this dish and the broth is light and inspiring. There's just some chillies,mustard oil, asafeotida and it all comes together quite nicely. The soft turnips go well with the crunch of the lotus stem - I guess you could substitute with other veggies (Anita recommends a kohl rabi combination with lotus root for another dish called Monji Nadir), but even I, who am not a stickler for recipes, would really recommend sticking to this combination. By the way, did I tell you that we had a mini blogger meet last month? Manisha (from Indian Food Rocks), Anita and I met at Anita's place for lunch - en famille - and we had a great time talking about food, eating food and then talking some more! It was great fun and yes, Anita does cook like a dream - her Mutton Kalia was just outstanding with the stew simmered till the meat was falling off the bone!

Anita's recipe has detailed pictures including exactly how the vegetables are cut for this dish - I just added one more chilli and a pinch of coriander powder. Simply Superb. Try this - the winter in Delhi has been severe for a couple of weeks, but over the weekend it looked like it might end very soon, so I am going to make this a few more times while I have fresh vegetables around. The fact that turnips are cheaper than onions and tomatoes helps as well!

Anita's Gogji Nadir (Turnips and Lotus Root)

Adapted from this recipe from A Mad Tea Party