This easy weeknight South Indian style cabbage puttu-stirfry is spicy and gingery, and it’s perfect with some roti or chapathi.
There are people who like to say how exactly they feel about certain foods. They don’t like the taste, it’s too sour or too sweet, or “Why would I ever eat that? It seems too healthy.”
I live with these types of people.. I was one, oh well, I’m still one.
They are firm non-believers of the cabbage family.
“What’s for dinner, mom?” “Cabbage poriyal,” she says. “Plain, or the one I like?” I ask. To that I get, “the one you like.” I smile.
The same conversation happens now with my little baby bear who definitely thinks cabbage is like grass, beetroot tastes like bark, and boiled eggs are a deadly sin :).
WEEKNIGHT MEALS
South Indian regular weeknight meals are, most of the time, vegetarian, and I’ll go to the extent of saying most of them are vegan too. This cabbage puttu-stirfry is one of them. One of my very old recipes that I plan to re-shoot is another favorite weeknight meal, the Pineapple Curry
While the most famous dish that is linked to puttu is very different from this cabbage puttu-stir fry, it is also linked to dishes with some sort of powdered lentil or cooked daals.
This dish appeared in our home once every week. My mom had a way of making the simplest meals taste so good. The key to a good cabbage puttu-stirfry is to not overcook the veggies. You want to keep the crunch. When you add the powder, saute it well for a few minutes. You can make this with just carrots, beans and even radishes… it is so tasty and so simple.
- Red Cabbage- ½ very thinly sliced lengthwise
- Green Cabbage - ½, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 2 carrots - cut lengthwise
- 3 tsp oil
- ½ tbsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp slip black urad daal
- 1 tbsp channa daal
- 5-8 red chili, broken or make a slit in the middle and use it
- 2 inches ginger, thinly sliced and cut to small pieces
- curry leaves- 10-15
- 1 tsp salt
- ⅓ cup pottu kalla/Roasted Gram, Roasted Bengal Gram, Roasted Split Gram/dalia - powdered
- Take a large pan. Add 3 tsp oil and let it get hot. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad daal, channa daal, red chilies, curry leaves. Let it pop and let the urad daal turn light brown. Add the ginger and stir for a minute.
- Then add the carrots and stir for 2-3 minutes. After it's cooked for about 50 percent, add the cabbage and stir fry with some salt. This cooks in 5-7 minutes.
- Add the powdered pottu kallla 2 tbsp at a time. Mix well. Add as much as the pottu kalla powder as yo prefer and mix well for about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve with roti or chapathi.
puttu and cabbage I have never tried this combo 🙂 sounds very interesting and look so yumm !!
Pretty colour, awesome flavours…a very yummy side dish!
Oh my goodness, Ash… so much to love in this recipe. Texture, color, nourishment…. I bet baby bear will eventually come around. These things take time. Thank for sharing xo