Mustard and Turmeric Braised Breakfast Radishes
Mustard and Turmeric Braised Breakfast Radishes

Mustard and Turmeric Braised Breakfast Radishes

  • Prep time:

  • Cook time:

  • Total time:

  • Portion/Yield:

    Serves 4 as a side dish

  • Difficulty:

    Easy

Have you ever thought of cooking breakfast radishes? We tend to regard them as a salad ingredient to be eaten raw, don’t we? Well, I really like cooked Little Gem lettuces, and last week Ross cooked cucumbers on the Josper grill (they were delicious!), so this week I thought I would try these braised radishes. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the results, as they too are very tasty!

I visited our local farmers’ market on Saturday morning and they had piles of bunched crisp, bright breakfast radishes on sale, so I bought some simply because they looked so fresh and lovely and I couldn’t resist.

The thought then entered my mind to give braising them with mustard seeds and turmeric a go, so I did and I was pleasantly surprised – they tasted amazing. I served them warm with grilled salmon fillets and steamed asparagus for our supper – a perfect springtime meal.photo for braised radishesphoto for braised radishes

Ingredients & Method

  • 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
  • 200g (trimmed weight) breakfast radishes (preferably small ones), tops removed and short stems/tails left on
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 125ml white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
  • sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, then add the radishes, along with the garlic, turmeric, mustard seeds, cumin and salt and pepper, and cook for about 5–10 minutes (depending on size), stirring all the time. During this time you will notice that the radishes lose their red colour slightly and the spices will stain the radishes beautifully.

Stir in the vinegar and sugar and continue to cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes or until the vinegar is reduced and sticks to the radishes. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the surface with a cartouche (a circle of greaseproof paper), cover the pan with a lid and gently braise the radishes over a low heat for 12–15 minutes or until they are tender to the knifepoint.

Once cooked, remove the lid and cartouche and stir, then increase the heat and boil rapidly for 3–4 minutes until the liquid is nearly all evaporated. Remove from the heat, then stir in the butter until melted and the radishes have a glossy coating.

Serve the braised radishes with grilled salmon fillets, roast chicken or shoulder of lamb or griddled beef steaks.