We have made our red cabbage stir fry at the Bombay Cook Club a few times recently and have many requests for the recipe. It's so easy, so healthy and so tasty... full of nutrient packed ingredients like mustard seeds, turmeric and ginger. Red cabbage is one of the healthiest veggies you can eat, full of anti-oxidants and properties that can assist in the prevention of cancer and heart disease. It is also low in calories, and full of immune system boosting vitamins like vitamin C.
You can use pretty much any vegetable as a substitute for the cabbage, including potatoes, cauliflower, peas, capsicum and zucchini. Just make sure you adjust cooking times to suit.
Here below is how you make it:
1/3 to ½ a red cabbage, finely sliced (you can use a ready cut bag of coleslaw mix for convenience too)
1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 stalk of curry leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
1-2 green chillies (to taste), sliced vertically down the middle
½ teaspoon of black mustard seeds
½ teaspoon of cumin seeds
½ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of salt (to taste)
Sprinkle of black pepper
Juice of a lemon
Fresh coriander to garnish
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan and fry the curry leaves for a minute or so, then add the mustard seeds, followed a few seconds later by the cumin seeds. These ingredients will start to spit and pop, then add the green chilli and ginger and fry for a minute or two.
Add a handful of cabbage and then put in the turmeric powder (so it doesn’t burn directly in the oil), then keep adding the cabbage, stir-frying quickly so it doesn’t overcook and stays a bit crunchy. Cook for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and add salt, and a grind of black pepper, to taste. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.