Fermented Kohlrabi with spices from Sri Lanka

Kohlrabi is a crunchy, delicious and versatile vegetable. I love it as a snack, simply steamed with a little salt and pepper, with potatoes and bechamel sauce, as a vegan curry or, of course, as fermented kohlrabi with spices.

The light green tubers are incredibly fresh and juicy, and, although it belongs to the cabbage family, kohlrabi is mild and also easily digested raw. It has a rather hard skin, so you should peel the tuber before eating it.

Kohlrabi is a zero waste vegetable

The leaves of kohlrabi are not only edible, but actually very healthy. They have twice the vitamin C content of the tuber, 100 times the carotene and 10 times the calcium and iron content. A good reason not to simply compost them, but to process them as well. Tasty, also healthy and with the dark green color it also brings a nice contrast to the food.

Kohlrabi is in season in Germany from May to November. And if you ferment it, you can enjoy it even longer.

Fermented Kohlrabi with spices from Sri Lanka

One of my favorite curries is green and rather mild. To simply ferment the ingredients instead of cooking them as a curry, came to me no sooner than just the other day. I had a lot of kohlrabi in the cta box, in fact, and planned fermented kohlrabi kakdugi kimchi alongside the curry when the thoughts crossed. The ferment basically works the same way the dish does, except you don't need a stove to cook it. Fermentation is not considered fireless cooking for nothing.

Ingredients

* For all those who do not have so many different spices in the house, I recommend Herbaria Organic Mild Wild Green as a ready-made spice mix. Also very good is the traditional, unroasted Thuna Paha, which you can make yourself from fennel seeds, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and curry leaves.

Preparation

Peel the kohlrabi, cut in half lengthwise and cut into 0.5 - 1 cm thick slices, cut the kohlrabi leaves into chiffonade. Then cut the onion and chili into fine rings. Mix, sprinkle with the salt and spices and leave to draw water.

Pour into a suitable fermentation vessel, such as a bail jar, and cover with a weight or other barrier. If not enough brine has formed to cover everything well, you can readjust with water.

Leave to ferment in a warm, dark place. Fermented kohlrabi tastes best to me after a short fermentation time, so after 1-2 weeks I put the container in the refrigerator to slow down the fermentation process. It keeps there for many months. You can, of course, just leave it in the cupboard or on the shelf. It will be a little more sour and a little softer than if you refrigerate it - but maybe that's what you like best. Try it out!

Knol Khol Curry

In Sri Lanka, kohlrabi is called knol khol, and I make this curry fresh from the same ingredients as the ferment. You might want to give it a try, it's really very tasty. Besides, you only have to shop and chop once if you make the ferment and the hot dish at the same time. I found the recipe on the blog Food Corner by Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi and changed it slightly over the years. You will find many more delicious dishes from Sri Lanka on the blog, it's worth the visit!

Ingredients

* For all those who do not have so many different spices in the house, I recommend Herbaria Organic Mild Wild Green as a ready-made spice mix. Also very good is the traditional, unroasted Thuna Paha, which you can make yourself from fennel seeds, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and curry leaves.

Preparation

Peel kohlrabi and cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut kohlrabi leaves into chiffonade. Finely chop onion and powder curry leaves. You can also use fresh curry leaves, then strip from the stem.

Put all the ingredients except the coconut milk and cream in a pot and sauté briefly. Then add a little water and steam for a few minutes with the lid closed. Add the coconut milk and let it boil down for about 10 minutes, until the kohlrabi is almost cooked. Then add the coconut cream.

Season with salt and serve with white rice.

Hot fermented kohlrabi with spices and carrots

Since the green kohlrabi ferment with spices tastes so great, I tried other combinations with vegetables and spices. Kohlrabi tastes really delicious with carrots, because both develop a similar mouthfeel, which, however, develops differently to the exact extent that the gustatory remains exciting.

Kohlrabi combined with carrots and a yellow-orange spice blend tastes really delicious, plus the ferment looks great in orange! If you like fermented kohlrabi and the flavors of Indian cuisine, you should definitely try it.

Ingredients

* because of the sunny color I do without the kohlrabi leaves in this ferment and use them elsewhere. Of course, they would still taste fine.

** in combination with the sweet carrots I love the fruity Herbaria Organic Calypso Tropical spice blend. If you make your own spice blends, turmeric, ginger and galangal are definitely part of the mix.

Preparation

Peel the kohlrabi and carrots and cut into bite-sized slices. Cut the onion into fine rings. Then mix, sprinkle with the salt and spices and leave to draw water.

Fill into a suitable fermentation vessel, such as a bail jar, and cover with a weight or other barrier. If not enough brine has formed to cover everything well, you can readjust with water.

Leave to ferment in a warm, dark place. Depending on how thick you cut the pieces, the fermentation time will change. Thinly sliced kohlrabi quickly becomes soft, so a week can already be too long. I always adjust the thickness of the vegetable pieces to the planned consumption. After 14 days at the latest, I put this ferment into cold storage. This does not have to be a refrigerator, a cold cellar is also suitable.