Keep Rutabaga Fresh! Storage Tips & 2 Indian Recipes You'll Love

Stepping beyond our usual choices in kitchen can open up a world of exciting flavors and nutrients. All it takes is to try a new vegetable or a cooking style to add novelty to our daily meals. Rutabaga, a vegetable I haven't explored before turned out to be a delightful discovery. If you haven't read my previous article on rutabaga, be sure to check it out here. It gives you a wholistic look at this underrated super vegetable along with a lip smacking Indian-style Rutabaga fry recipe you won't want to miss. 

Apart from the fry, I prepared a flavorful Andhra-style karam pulusu and a comforting Tamil-style kootu using rutabaga. Surprisingly, both dishes turned out even more delicious than the fry! If I had to rank all the three recipes, the rutabaga pulusu would easily take the top spot—it was simply irresistible!

How to store rutabaga for weeks?

Rutabagas come in all sizes, but the smaller ones can be more bitter and the bigger ones could be woody and tough to cut. So go for a medium sized one. And if you choose to store rutabagas for later use, follow any of the below options, depending on your need. If properly stored, they will last fresh up to an year. 

Short Term (3 days to 2 weeks)

For short term storage, cut only the desired quantity and wrap the remaining in cling wrap and store it in the refrigerator. Don't wash the vegetable before storing as moisture leads to spoilage. Rutabaga stored in this method, will remain fresh until 2 weeks. If you think you will use the vegetable in 2 to 3 days, peel, wash, cut into desired size, keep it in an air tight container and refrigerate.

Due to a technical issue, I lost all the content I shot on storing methods and the two recipes I shared in this article. Thankfully, I could retrieve this small glimpse of storing rutabaga using cling wrap.

Long Term (1 to 3 months)

If you intend to store for 1 or 3 months, keep the whole rutabaga in dark, cool and ventilated area. Generally the ones available in grocery stores have a wax coating on it, to for the very purpose of extending its shelf life. 

Long Term (more than 6 months)

For long term storage like 6 months to an year, you can peel, wash, chop and pack rutabaga in zip lock bags and place them in freezer. 

Now that you know how to store rutabaga and keep it fresh for weeks, let's put it to good use! Here are the recipes of the spicy pulusu and heartful kootu.

Recipe: Rutabaga Pulusu

Ingredients:

• Rutabaga (chopped) - 1 cup
• Raw Mango - 1/2 cup
• Onion (big) - 1
• Tomato (big) - 2
• Garlic - 10 cloves 
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Tamarind - 1 lemon sized
• Water - 3 cups
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Corriander (chopped) - handful
• Salt - To taste
• Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

• Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water
• Cut all the vegetables including rutabaga and mango into desired size
• To a thick bottomed vessel, add oil and once it is hot, add mustard and cumin seeds and allow them to splutter
• Add fenugreek seeds and fry until it turns brown; then add onions, garlic and curry leaves and fry till onions become translucent
• Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chilli and coriander powders and fry till the tomatoes becomes mushy
• Meanwhile, extract the tamarind pulp and keep it ready
• Once the tomatoes are well cooked, add rutabaga and tamarind extract and mix
• Pour water and cook covered until rutabaga is 80% cooked
• Add the mango pieces, asafetida, sugar at this stage and cook till rutabaga is 100% done
• Finally garnish with handful of coriander leaves and serve with hot rice or ragi sangati (kali) with appalam/ vodiyaalu (fryums) on side 

Tips:

• Like any karam pulusu recipe, try making this rutabaga pulusu the night before and serve the next day
• Don't forget to include mango and sugar in this recipe. Mango enhances the overall taste of the dish and sugar helps to balance out all the flavours
• Pro-tip is - Have you ever tried pulusu with idli or dosa. If you haven't you should definitely give it a try!!

Recipe: Rutabaga Kootu

Ingredients:

• Rutabaga (diced) - 2 cups
• Split chickpea (Chana dal) - 1/2 cup
• Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup
• Green chilies - 2
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - To taste

For tempering:

• Coconut oil - 1 tbsp 
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic (crushed) - 4 cloves
• Red chillies - 2
• Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure:

• Wash and soak split chickpea (dal) for at least 2hrs
• Chop rutabaga into small cubes. Add rutabaga cubes, soaked dal, water, salt, turmeric powder and a teaspoon of oil (oil helps to cook the dal faster) to a pressure cooker and cook for 4 whistles
• Allow the pressure to release naturally. Meanwhile grind grated coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds into a fine paste
• Add the paste to cooked rutabaga and dal, adjust the water consistency as per your liking and cook for 10 minutes
• To a tadka pan add oil and once it is hot, add mustard and cumin seeds and allow them to splutter 
• Add crushed garlic and red chillies, fry till they turn crispy and then add asafetida and curry leaves
• Pour the hot tempering to the kootu 
• You may serve the kootu with rice or roti or can even eat it as it is. It is a balanced diet meal as it has protein, fiber, carbs and nutrients sufficient enough to keep you satiated and nourished. For added protein, you may have pan roasted paneer or tofu or boiled eggs.

Tips:

• You may use moong dal (split green gram) instead of chana dal
• As soon as you pour the tempering into the kootu, close it with a lid for at least 5 mins to lock in all the flavours

I love trying my hands at creating Indian-style dishes with vegetables that aren't traditionally part of our cuisine. Though rutabaga isn't a native to India, its fascinating how a little bit of creativity and rich palate of our spices can turn even the most unfamiliar ingredient into comforting and familiar flavours. 

I would be glad to know if you have ever tried to give an Indian twist to a local vegetable from your region. Let's keep sharing and learning from each other. 

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