Chai tow kway with Daikon (stir fry with radish cake)

Chai tao kway is a common dish of Teochew cuisine(ethnic chinese cuisine) in southeast asian countries.And the daikon cake is usually made during Chinese New year. These cakes are made by steaming shredded radish and plain flour.Then it is cut into slices and pan-fried with sauces and few veggies before serving. In singapore,there are 2 versions,the white version(with out soy sauce) and black version(with soy sauce).
The traditionally cakes have dried mushroom and shrimp.I skipped these in mine and stir fried the shredded radish before steaming. I was little sceptical about using raw radish.

Ingredients:
1 cup radish - shredded and cooked
2 cups rice flour
4 tbsp tapioca flour/cornstarch
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups water
1/4 cup oil for frying the cake

For stir-fry:
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp of fresh ground chilly or sambal olek
1/4 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
a handful of bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped spring onions
2 egg
2 tsp oil
coriander for garnish

Method:
For Radish Cake:
1.Add all the ingredients and stir until mixed.
2.Pour the combined mixture into a steamer lined with greased aluminium foil and steam at high heat for 20-30 minutes or until solidifies.Just like how we prepare idlies.
3.Once the cake is done,cool it and slice into square pieces.Then pan-fry until both the sides turn golden brown.The cake gets a crunchy layer on the outside when it is pan fried.

For stir-fry:
4.Add oil to a pan and fry garlic,sprouts,spring onions for 2-3 minutes.
5.Move the gravy to the corner of the pan and add eggs on the other corner.Once the egg is cooked,scramble it and mix it with rest of the ingredients.
6.Garnish with coriander leaves.Serve hot.


COOK'S FILE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HINT:The radish cake mixture will be in liquid consistency.
STORAGE TIME:This cake can be kept for a week in the fridge.The traditional one has dried mushrooms and shrimp.

Mullangi stir-fry(White radish)

It took me a while to name this recipe. When I see Radish, all I can think of is mullangi sambar that mom makes at home. Especially when the mullangi is soaked in a pot filled with gram dal. oooo...It is so tender and juicy to even think about it now. But cooking sambar everyday is quite boring, especially when I would love to try out new recipes everyday. Its the season for radish and the Indian store close by carries some huge white raddish. They don't come in such sizes back home. I use only half the radish for a meal for two.

So after getting suggestions from my mother-in-law,I tried out this recipe.Its simple,delicious and goes well with chappati or as a substitute for potato in the masala dosa. Looks like white radish is an obesity diet food and also helps in digestion and rich in vitamin C and calcium.

Ingredients for Radish Curry Recipe
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp channa dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida powder
1 tomato,chopped
1tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 cups radish,peeled and grated
coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
1.Heat the oil in a pan.Once the oil is hot add urad and channa dal.Then mustard seeds and asafotida powder.
2.Add tomato and saute for 5 minutes or until its cooked.
3.Add grated radish to the pan along with coriander powder, chili powder and turmeric powder and fry for 2 minutes.Add 1/2cup of water along with salt and cook until the radish is done.
4.Garnish with coriander leaves.

COOK'S FILE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HINT:It turned out good without the regular ingredients(onion,ginger and garlic).