Cabbage as a vegetable is so diverse and yet so polarising. According to this piece it’s one of the most hated vegetables in India along with the carrot. How sad for those who don’t eat it! JK Rowling once said, “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” So I say, “If you don’t like cabbage, you haven’t found the right recipe”.
The most commonly used and easily available type of cabbage is the green cabbage and despite it being one of the least liked vegetables, India consumes about 9.2M tonnes of cabbage in a year – the second largest consumer of cabbage after China.
It’s easy to understand why cabbage can be quite off-putting for some people. The smell isn’t the most appealing. In fact it’s one of the smelliest foods in nature along with broccoli, brussels sprouts and of course jackfruit. So, forget about cabbage soup or following the GM diet if you don’t like this cruciferous veggie. But don’t forget that the main component in ‘veg manchurian’ which is hugely popular in Indo-Chinese food that we love so much is cabbage!! Feeling hypocritical yet?!
But despite cabbage having such a strong smell the taste by comparison is mild. The best way to ensure you get rid of the cabbage smell and taste is to cook it on medium-high flame.
Pair It With
Cabbage thoran is one of the easiest ways to make this vegetable if you want to venture giving it a shot. It’s simple and quick to make and goes oh-so-well with Tur Dal Rasam, steaming white rice and pappadums. It’s a good option if you don’t have too much time to make a meal, but really don’t want to order in or go out. If you plan to make this for lunch, go easy on the rice or you’ll need to take some time out to get some shut eye.
While cooking cabbage doesn’t reduce by much, unlike methi that wilts down to less than half its bulk, pre-cooked. So if you’re cooking for 3-4 people, one head of cabbage between 300-400 grams will be more than enough.
What you’ll need
– Chopped cabbage
– Three green chillies
– One teaspoon of mustard seeds
– One teaspoon of urad dal
– Two tablesppons of oil
– Half a cup grated coconut
How to make cabbage thoran
– Chop the cabbage as fine as you can to reduce the cooking time. Discard the hard section in the middle. – Heat a vessel of water and add sal to it, like you would for pasta.
– Once the water comes to a boil, add the chopped cabbage to it and switch the gas off. YOU DON’T WANT TO BOIL THE CABBAGE.
– Use a large spoon to ensure all the cabbage is soaked nicely into the salted hot water.
– After about ten minutes, drain the water from the cabbage and set the colander over another vessel to ensure all the water drips through. There’s nothing worse for cabbage than being cooked it in water.
– While the cabbage drains, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a kadhai.
– Add to urad dal, mustard seeds and the green chillies slit down the middle.
If you’re concerned about someone biting into a chilly, mistaking it for a string of cabbage. Fry the chillies for a bit in the oil and then remove them before putting in the cabbage.
– Once the mustard and urad dal has spluttered, take handfuls of cabbage, squeeze and add to the kadhi. It will sizzle A LOT, so take a step back when you do it.
– Keep squeezing the excess water from the cabbage and adding it to the kadhai.
– Add everything and give it a good stir to coat all the cabbage with oil.
– Lower the flame and add salt to taste and some turmeric. Go easy on the salt because remember you’ve already washed the cabbage in salt water. Put half as much as you generally would for a kadhai-full of vegetable. You can always adjust the salt once it’s cooked.
– Give it a good stir to mix the turmeric and salt and increase the flame.
Use a wooden spatula to do the stirring, because a steel spoon raucously scraping on a metal kadhai will drive you nuts.
– Keep stirring to avoid the cabbage from getting caught and burning.
– After a couple of minutes lower the flame and stir a bit. Do not cover the kadhai or the cabbage will become soggy.
From the time of putting the cabbage in the kadhai, to the time you switch it off, should be about 5-7 minutes. Not more than that.
Must Add
Thoran isn’t thoran without coconut. So make sure you add that. It balances the peppery-ness of the cabbage beautifully. Make sure you remove the brown skin of the coconut and use only the white meat for thoran. Sometimes the skin of the coconut is too thick and could cause a slight throat irritation. Grate some coconut on the done cabbage – enough to form a light layer on it. Mix nicely before serving.
Now if you want to include another vegetable into the mix, try adding some grated carrot to the cabbage. If you’re short on time and can’t grate it, chop up a large red carrot real fine in a food processor or use a regular knife. Either way, ensure you add the carrot to the hot oil before you add the cabbage. Or it’ll taste raw. Cook it about 3/4th of the way and then add the cabbage. Continue with the rest of the recipe as usual.
If you want to bump up the nutrition level a bit more, add some moong sprouts. You choose when you’d like to add the sprouts depending on how raw or well done you like it. Some people don’t like the smell of raw green moong sprouts so if you are one of them, add it first to the oil, then add the carrots and then the cabbage.
Easy peasy
Cabbage thoran makes a great addition to a simple rice and rasam lunch and it can all be done in 30-40 minutes flat. Put up the rice on one burner, and the prep and put the rasam on the other. Chop up the cabbage while the rasam is cooking. You’ll be done chopping and prepping the cabbage by the time the rasam is done. Remove it from the burner and prepare the cabbage thoran. Strain the rice that should be done by now and use that burner to tadka the rasam. Voila!
The beauty of Indian food is that it doesn’t matter how much time you take to prepare it – the simplest food and the most exotic dishes are both delicious. Don’t you agree?
