I tried making sauerkraut, my crock got moldy. I tried doing fresh slaw, my intestines revolted. So I’m going to tell you a secret. I started giving away green cabbage from my Lufa Farms Fresh Basket! Shh! I’d see that unsightly cabbage in the box and I’d groan. For one, it was heavy and I didn’t want to carry home extra weight that would just sit in my fridge until it (or I) died. Once there was someone else picking up their Fresh Basket the same time as me and I offered my cabbage to her. Her eyes lit up! “It’s my son’s favourite!” she said. So there you go. One person’s trash…
“Can I give you something for it?”
“No, just take it! Please!” I replied. But when she was leaving she forced an avocado upon me. It was the Best. Trade. Ever.
Despite this one amazing encounter, I’ve still given away at least cabbages – I just leave them in the back of my pick-up point with the other boxes in the hopes that someone will want them. And I still had two whole green cabbages sitting in my fridge not being used despite my fortuitous avocado trade. So I scoured my recipe books for something that looked appetizing. Usually, when I can’t figure out how to make a vegetable taste good, I go Indian. That country has been figuring out what to do with lowly vegetables for millenia. And I also remembered once making a Chinese stir-fry where cabbage strips softened into noodle-like consistencies. It was actually delicious and gluten-free.
So I turned to Madhur Jaffrey’s “Indian Cooking” and made two recipes: Cabbage with Peas and Gujarati Cabbage with Carrots. For me, the peas won out because of the sweet starchiness of the green balls, but the carrot recipe has an addictive cruch from the mustard seeds and is a little more like a cooked coleslaw with the carrot in there. Both are winners. And after eating these two cabbage salads for a week, I think it’s fair to say that I did my time. I’m all cabbage-d out. Bring on the asparagus, the fiddleheads, the strawberries, and the rhubarb!
Gujarati Cabbage with Carrots
Serves 4-6
350g (3/4 lb) green cabbage (I used one whole small one. If you have a big one try the cabbage with peas recipe instead)
350g (3/4 lb) carrots (just make it about the same amount. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, slice the cabbage into a big bowl or two and do the same for an equivalent amount of grated carrot. Maybe a cup less since the grated carrot is denser than the sliced cabbage)
1 fresh hot green cayenne chili pepper
3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil (not olive). Cabbage has zero fat, so don’t be scared off by using this much. Definitely don’t skimp below 2 tbsp.
pinch of ground or grated asafetida, optional. It smells like onions and garlic and is SO good for digestion, which is very important with cabbage. You can find this tree sap in lumps at Épices de Cru or Olives et Épices at Jean-Talon market.
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 dried hot red chili pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar (to soften the heat)
1/4 chopped cilantro, divided into stems and leaves (or parsley – aka cilantro for wimps).
1 tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
First cut it in half then lay it cut side-down on the cutting board. Cut it into long, thin strips, starting from the edge, working in to the core. Then re-start at the other edge and work in again. Discard the core. DO NOT try to take the core out by slicing around it first. This will only lead to trouble. (Or use a mandoline to slice the cabbage very quickly. There’s more clean-up but the strips will all be the same size and you reduce the change of cutting yourself if you avoid the blades).
Peel and grate the carrots (about the same amount as the cabbage slices, maybe a little less). Remove the seeds of the green chili pepper and cut it into long, thin strips, or diced if you like a little more heat. It really won’t be that hot since the Lufa Farms green chilies aren’t that hot.
Have the rest of the ingredients ready to go. This goes fast!
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a very large pot. When hot add the asafetida. Stir for 2 seconds then add the mustard seeds until they start to pop (up to 10 seconds. sometimes my mustard seeds don’t feel like popping so I make sure they’re coated in oil and wait another 15 seconds before moving on). Add the dried red chili. Stir, and then add the cabbage, carrots, and fresh green chili. Lower the heat to medium and give it all a good stir for a minute. Then addsalt, sugar, and the cilantro stems, reserving the leaves for garnish. Stir and cook for 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft enough to chew with a good set of dentures. They should still be a little crunchy, but the advantage of this dish over coleslaw is the cabbage should be soft and almost noodle-like.
Add the lemon juice. Remove the pot from the heat, and stir. Top with cilantro leaves and serve with Basmati rice, dhal, and raita or a chicken or meat curry.
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