Sometimes my husband feels veggie shopping is calming. He picks onions endlessly with an eye of a photographer, perfect tomatoes and especially picks the veggies we have not seen usually. Guess what came home this time… A huge purple kohlrabi. So far, we have cooked only the greenish-white kholrabi before. These purple kholrabi really looked a bit spooky, perfect for a Halloween decor. 
Well, jokes apart we both were proudly expecting it to be the beautiful purple inside too. So the grand unveiling of the colour was scheduled. Our hearts thumping and my mind racing with ideas to showcase the purple beautiful flesh of that giant kholrabi. We made big hoohaa of it all and circled everyone around the vegetable cutting board. A centre slice of the vegetable sank all our hearts. It is the same old white inside
. All that excitement vanished and we now had the slain vegetable the kitchen board!!
Within seconds the onlookers in the kitchen vanished and were back on to their busy world and left me to finish the task. Totally disheartened, I went for the absolute familiarity factor, Knolkol poriyal.
However, the end result was so comforting and absolutely worthy of adding to the A To Z recipe collection for the letter K.
In this group we bloggers try to put together recipes from.a common alphabet, this month being letter K. The initial thought for me was to go the Kale way, but once the Kohlrabi came, there was no turn back. If you are looking for Kale, here is one
Kohlrabi – Knolkhol
Belonging to the cabbage family, this cruciferous vegetable comes in green and purple. Both are a bit sweeter than cabbage and cauliflower. This is not a root vegetable but the stem that bulges to store food. This vegetable is so rich in Vit C and fibre and also a low-calorie vegetable. Just like any other cruciferous vegetable,l it is rich in glucosinolates and isothiocinates. It helps to reduce inflammation and reduce plaque formation.
Though it is a quite common recipe in my inlaws, it is a very tasty and flavourful one. Paired with rice, sambhar or rasam it is a complete meal. The curry leaves add a wonderfully subtle taste with the sweetness of the coconut. Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it and if you see purple kohlrabi with a purple heart… Don’t miss to show yours. Here is the rasam recipe I will serve it with.
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Knolkhol poriyal
Purple Kholrabi stirfry
Ingredients
for tempering
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp Urad Dal
- 5-7 curry leaves
for poriyal
- 2 cup knolkhol small dices
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
for garnishing
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
Instructions
- Peel the skin of the knolkhol and dice the flesh into 1 cm or smaller cubes.
- Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. the mustard seeds when splutters add the urad dal and the curry leaves.
- Add the diced knolkhol and add salt and turmeric powder.
- Saute well and sprinkle a bit of water. Cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes till the knolkhol is tender.
- Keep watching the water level.
- Once the cubes are fork tender, stir in the freshly grated coconut and saute for another two minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve warm
Notes
I have used the tender leaves of the kholrabi as well. They taste really lovely as well.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I love any kind of poriyal.. It pairs well with dal chawal and curd rice. Must try this . Usually I cook knolkhol like kootuwith dal
I do like the poriyal a tiny bit better than a kootu, just no particular reason, just an afinity
I recently added the green kohlrabi to my soup and was wondering why I don’t use this vegetable enough. So along comes your simple and delicious looking poriyal, so next time I buy kohlrabi, I know what to make. I can imagine the excitement of the whole family, on the whole purple kohlrabi scene.
Oh soup with this will be exciting. Share that recipe too it will be lovely to try. Do share your feel when you try this simple recipe and yes, just buy the regular one… the purple peel is in my compost bin
Haha what a climax! 😀 It is a pity that the beautiful purple hue stayed out only. Hehe… having said that, this poriyal sounds like something I would really enjoy with my rice and dal… got to hunt for this veg soon…
I know… All that hooha for nothing but that purple peel in my compost!! Find this in winter and you will have a sweeter taste. Do share your feel when you try
Oooh, I love the look and sound of this Knol Khol Poriyal! It would taste beautiful with some sambar or rasam rice. Lovely recipe. 🙂
Rasam rice wins for me… with this poriyal anyday
Loved the way you and your family unveiled the true colors of the purple knol khol; hilarious!!! My family is not a big fan of this (my husband hates this as this was the only veggie he got in the hostel!!), but I love poriyals and especially with these simple flavors; I don’t mind trying! Yumm share dear <3
i can understand if over cooked the vegetable can be quite obnoxious, quite poriyals like this can stop it from being over boiled. try it for yourself…may be he might change his mind.
Never used this vegetable. Sounds interesting. Poriyal looks absolutely delicious and flavorful. Loved it. Saving the recipe to try sometime.
It is a wonderful vegetable Sujata, perfect with Bengali cuisine too. As bloggers it is a flavourful yet subtle vegetable
This one sounds a simple and favourful dish with dal rice. a new vegetable for me nut the dish looks so yumm and reading after the health benefits will love to try it.
Kholrabi is a lovely vegetable, I kind of love its subtle sweetness. Please do try and go for the green or purple, ultimately they are all the same
Knolkol is not a vegetable I cook with often, but your simple recipe is pushing me in the direction of trying it. I am smiling at the story of your purple Knolkol adventures. Happy New Year.
haha, I should publish the vege adventures more often then, they are hilarious. Do try the recipe, yes it is absolutely simple
I love poriyal with any veggie. Purple kohlrabi poriyal sounds delicious. I can imagine the great nutty flavours imparted by the coconut. Lovely share…
Come to the south of India we love coconut in anything…and yes the knolkhol with coconut is a great combo
I too make poriyal in the same way. Looks so tempting and delicious. Btw you have not added green chilli or red chilli for spiciness. You don’t add anything for spiciness?
Hi Narmada, it is true I have not added anything to spice up this dish. I hardly do to my poriyals as I love milder food and so does my family. In fact my mil adds green chillies.
The purple variety intrigued me too, Seema ! what a vibrant colour it has on the outside.. Simple poriyals like this with Chuda chuda rasam saadham… bliss 🙂
I know Kalyani, that was all that excitement… atleast expected some purple streaks inside… unfortunately none appeared.
Loved reading the post Seema. Woulove pairing the knol khol poriyal with my dal chawal for s soulful meal.
dal chawal will be a wonderful combo, however I kind of lean more to a rasam rice to go with it.
Poriyal and Kootu are my number one choice with this vegetable. I love how easily they blend with any Kuzhambu and rice. Love this with a bowl of cool curd rice too. PS – We don’t get the purple ones here, would love to buy them even though they are not purple on the inside. Haha.. I could totally visualize the drama!
I am sure in a few years these purple ones will appear in India too, but so true they are a perfect flavour to the green ones we see as well. Mmmm kuzhambu and poriyal is ultimate
Never tasted or tried this vegetable, a totally new to me.By seeing it looks like a turnip which I usually most often during winter times. This looks and sounds so flavourful.Will try sometime, thanks for this delicious share.
Loved the writeup !! The portal recipe is really quick and simple one. Have never tried this , though my grandma use knol kohl often. Would love to give it a try as such comforting meals are my go to options on lazy weekends.
What a adventure story of purple kholrabi … hahaaa
Well the poriyal looks absolutely delicious and flavorful seema. Although i can get the green ones at my locality still i will try the recipe…..