Also Known As
Kohlrabi, Kohlrabi greens, Navalkol, Gunth Gobhi, Ganth gobhi
Description
Knolkhol is an europan vegetable, very popular in Kashmir in India. It is a greenish white colored big and round vegetable, somewhat similar to cabbage, although it does not have leaves covering. There are long light green colored extrusions, which come out as its shoots. It is large and woody or hard and comes in late winters.
How to Select
Select the fresh, large, light green colored knolkhol. It is hard, same like the core of cabbage. The unfresh one would show slightly drooped extrusions and might be wilted. Avoid the ones, which have cuts or ruptures, due to transportation.
Culinary Uses
l Knolkhol is one of the common vegetables mainly used to prepare subji in the northern region of India. To make Knolkhol saag, heat oil , add cumin seeds, sliced onion and Garam Masala. Finally add peeled and cubed Knol khol and other greens. Add salt to taste.
l It can be peeled and grated or chopped to prepare Knol Khol Kachumber or salad. Alternatively it can be mixed with other salad vegetables to make a Mix Salad.
l It can be savored with Brown Rice and Dal and consumed as a major meal.
l You can prepare Knolkhol Kurma.
How to Store
You can wash Knolkhol gently and refrigerate it at 80-90% humidity under normal refrigeration temperature. Do not peel it if not be used soon, to avoid further moisture loss. It has a long storage as compared to other vegetables due to its hard texture. Alternatively you can chop or dice knolkhol and keep it in a perforated net or zip lock bag. Its freshness and nutritive value will last for at least 4-5 days.
Health Benefits
Knolkhol comes under the Brassica Family of vegetables.
l It is rich in the antioxidant , so helps fight cancer.
l It also contains good amounts of vitamins C, E and carotene
l It is considered good sources of dietary fiber.
l It also contains sulphoraphanes and other isothiocyanates, which are believed to stimulate the production of protective enzymes in the body
l Aqueous extract of Knol-Khol is reported to have antidiabetic activity.
Chopped knol khol
Wash the knolkhol gently. Peel it.. With a knife, cut it into two halves. First slice the knolkhol horizontally from top to bottom and then vertically. Try to keep it equidistant as possible. Now chop it by cutting it into small pieces approximately ¼ inch in diameter, although the chopped food doesn't need to be exactly the same size. If the recipe calls for the ingredients to be "coarsely chopped," make the pieces slightly larger. Similarly if you want "finely chop" knolkhol, cut it into still smaller size. Similarly chop the other half.
Peeled knol khol
Wash the knolkhol. Remove the extrusions. You can use a peeler for this, may be a plastic one or a steel one. Gently hold knolkhol and scrape off the skin from top to the bottom. continuing till the entire vegetable is peeled. Peeled knolkhol is used in salads and may be further chopped as per the recipe.
Sliced knol khol
Wash the knolkhol gently. Peel it. With a knife, cut it into two halves in the horizontal direction. Take one half and continue slicing the fruit from top to bottom in the same direction. Similarly slice the other half. If the recipe calls for the ingredients to be "thickly sliced," make the pieces slightly larger. Similarly if you want "thinly sliced " knolkhol, cut it into still smaller size.
Knolkhol cubes
Wash the knolkhol gently. Peel it. With a knife, first slice it horizontally and then vertically. Try to keep it equidistant as possible. Now cut it into square shaped pieces approximately one inch in diameter, although the cubes doesn't need to be exactly the same size. You can increase or decrease the size of the cubes to small, medium or large depending on the recipe.