Did you know that the radish is a cousin of the cabbage? Or that this vegetable contains a number of nutrients that are beneficial to the human body, even though it is disliked for its smell?
Apart from the easily-available white variety, the radish comes in many shapes, sizes and colours. What is available in India only in winter is the pinkish-red variety. It is juicy, pungent and crisp when eaten raw. To get the perfect radish with all these qualities, it should be selected well.
Buy and care
Radish is still a popular kitchen garden crop. While buying red radish, check for its freshness. A fresh radish will be taut. The best way to cure them before consuming them raw or before cooking is to give them a rough scrub to remove dust and mud from the crevices. Do not peel them.
Make sure they are not too large, else they may end up being hollow. Before refrigerating them, wash, remove greens from the top and place them in plastic bags with a paper towel at the bottom to optimise moisture content and keep them fresh for about a week.
Benefits
This well-travelled vegetable finds mention in Chinese books as early as 2,700 B.C. It is said that the Egyptians cultivated them even before they began building the pyramids. Greeks and Romans liked them as large as they would grow and served them with honey and vinegar. In Britain, the radish has found both culinary as well as medicinal uses, usually for kidney stones, bad skin, and intestinal worms. In Eastern and Ayurvedic healing practices, the radish, which is considered to have natural cooling properties, is said to be useful in helping break down and eliminate toxins and cancer-causing free radicals in the body.
Any health journal we look up will tell that a 100-gram portion can provide folate, fibre, riboflavin and potassium, as well as good amounts of copper, vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, and calcium to the body. The fibre keeps the human digestive system flushed and functioning, while maintaining a healthy weight. They are also known to be a natural diuretic. They can also regulate blood pressure, relieve congestion and prevent respiratory problems such as asthma or bronchitis. They have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and detoxifying properties, and contain compounds that soothe rashes, dryness, and other skin disorders. By virtue of their spicy character, they can help eliminate excess mucus in the body and can be especially helpful when fighting a cold. They can help clear sinuses and soothe sore throats too.
