Cabbage Koottu

Many a times I feel blessed to have some vegetables that lasts longer in our fridge ♥   Those veggies are the saving stocks when we need something quick. I am sure you all would have your own experiences on how a cabbage in fridge saved you  ☺

Cabbage is a staple vegetable in USA, and it would be on a  lesser price range always (less than 39 cents - 79 cents / lb). On a lucky day, we can get a whole big cabbage for a dollar . So it would be the first to climb a shopping cart and the last to get cooked ☺ . While many say otherwise, I like cabbage also very much. For Indian foods , I choose the cabbage that is sold in Indian grocery stores only (tastes same as Indian cabbage), as there are a lot of varieties here and some taste like lettuce and won't go with Indian cuisine. 

Stir fry is the common recipe for cabbage in Tamilnadu. Have you ever considered preparing something delicious using cabbage other than the regular poriyal (stir fry). Cabbage always needs a good cook, who would give it a face lift ☺
I learned this recipe from one of my best friends Parvathi. This koottu recipe belongs to her mother inlaw . So I guess its origin as Tanjore cuisine.
I like this recipe very much and we believe that it goes yummy as side dish with sambar rice or puli kulambu and rice.

Ingredients:
cabbage - 200 gm (small piece)
onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
tomato - 1 (optional)
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp
urid dal - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
curry leaf - few

To grind:
coconut - 2 tbsp (shredded)
fennel (sombu) - 1 tsp
green chilly - 3
puffed channa dal (pottu kadalai) - 2 tbsp

Method:
Shred / chop the cabbage into small pieces and keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok.
Let the mustard starts to crackle and add urid dal.
Add onion as soon as urid dal starts turning mild red.
Saute onion with some curry leaf.
Then add chopped tomato and cook well (no need for tomato if using as side dish with tamarind based curries over rice. But adding tomato tastes good when served with chapati).
As the onion turns soft, add the cabbage and saute for a minute.
Add 1 cup water and cook till it turns tender.
Put enough salt.
Grind the items mentioned to a coarse paste.
Add this to the koottu and bring to a boil.
Let it cook covered for a minute and turn off.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Cabbage koottu is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with sambar or puli kulambu rice or with chapathi.

cabbage dhal curry

This is a very simple curry , good for a mild lunch. I use green gram dhal for this curry, but many choose Toor dhal (Red gram) instead. Basically I prefer this kind of vegetable dominated curries to mix with the rice, so that I can reduce my rice intake:)
There is no need to temper this curry , but the choice depends on the individual. The taste will be bland as there is no tomato or tamarind, but it can be paired perfectly with a spicy fry.



Muttaikose paasi paruppu kulambu / cabbage green gram dhal curry:

Ingredients:
Cabbage - 200 gms
green gram dhal - 1/2 cup
green chilli - 2
salt - as required
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 3 pods
ginger - 1 inch
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Directions:
Wash and soak the green gram dhal (siru paruppu / paasi paruppu in Tamil) for 30 minutes.
Start Cooking it in 2 cups of water with turmeric powder.
Finely chop the cabbage , garlic , ginger and green chilli.
After the dhal gets half cooked, add the chopped vegetables.
Cook them without closing the lid. Because green gram dhal has the property to form froth and overflow , if covered and cooked.
After the dhal is cooked to a mushy state, switch off the flame.
Add salt, cumin seeds and mash gently without crushing the cabbage.
Cabbage dhal curry is ready.
No need to temper it.

Serving diections:
The above said quantity is good for 3 people, if served like sambar on plain rice.