Xtraterrestrial Gobo? Or Good Ol' Burdock Root!

Burdock Root



Burdock Root Pickle

Masala Burdock Root

Now most of us are familiar with those TV ads going BOGO or Buy One Get One Free. But what on earth is Gobo! I recently discovered this amazing vegetable also known as Burdock root in my local Japanese store. Now why would I try to cook something that looks so different from anything I have ever made? For Nupur's 'X' of Indian vegetables event ofcourse! Given that 'X' is such an ahem unique alphabet, Nupur came up with the innovative idea of using that as an opportunity to cook a vegetable we have never made before. Now given a wild card like this, I could not help BUT go wild ;).

So what do I do? I go pick up the craziest looking vegetable that looks barely edible, and resolve to make something R & I can enjoy! I come home, promptly fire up my internet browser and look up what this is and how one cooks it. Much to my surprise, I was delighted to find that the Gobo root has incredible medicinal properties and actually looks quite pretty as a young plant :) Now with even more motivation, I started looking for recipes, most of which were South East Asian style preparations.

Given that Nupur's event calls for predominantly Indian flavors, I decided to cook it 2 ways: a. as a pickle (yumm!) and b. as a spicy vegetable cooked Indian style.
The pickle I absolutely loved (its been pickling a few days now and tastes great!). As for the Indian style vegetable preparation, was not too bad either, where it tasted a bit like potato sabzi.

The key thing with the Burdock root is that it needs to be cleaned well and steamed for 15 minutes at least to make sure it loses its initial hardness. Once you are past that stage, you can use this in fried rice, noodles, and stir frys.

This is what the Gobo looks like once its cleaned and julienned...


Gobo/Burdock Root Pickle
Ingredients
1. 1 Burdock root
2. 1 cup readymade Pickle Mix. I used KaPra's mango pickle mix (available in any Indian store)
3. 1 cup oilve oil
4. Salt as desired
Method
1. Wash and scrub the burdock root with a rough sponge or metal scrubber
2. Cut the root into juliennes and steam for 15 minutes till soft
3. Mix together the burdock root, pickle mix, salt and oil. Mix well.
4. Store in a air tight container. Make sure the oil rises 2 inches over the pickle mix for a longer shelf life
5. The pickle is ready to enjoy in 3-4 days

Masala Gobo/Burdock
Ingredients
1. 1 Burdock root
2. 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
3. 1½ tsp ginger-garlic paste
4. 1½ tsp red chilli powder
5. 1 tsp dhana-jeera powder
6. 1/4 tsp garam masala
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
8. 1/2 cup chopped coriander
9. Salt to taste
10. 2-3 tsp olive oil
11. 1 tsp lemon juice
Method
1. Wash and scrub the burdock root with a rough sponge or metal scrubber
2. Cut the root into juliennes and steam for 15 minutes till soft
3. In a heated pan, sauté the onions in oil
4. To this add the turmeric and roast well
5. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute or two
6. Add the dhana-jeera powder, red chili powder and garam masala. Roast well
7. Add the steamed burdock root and sauté well
8. Add salt, lemon juice and coriander
9. Let the mixture cook well. Add some water if needed
Server with Naan or Rice

Enjoy :)