Cabbage Sabzi | Patta gobhi sabzi | Cabbage Palya

Cabbage is known as yele kosu in Kannada.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
Shredded Cabbage: About 5 cups
Frozen Peas: 1/2 cup, refer notes
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-5 nos, torn
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder: 1-1.5 tsp, more or less
Coriander powder/dhania powder: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Sugar: 1-2 tsp, more or less

For the garnish:
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Method:
Heat oil in a broad sauce pan. When oil is hot, throw in the mustard & cumin seeds.

When mustard seeds crackle, add the curry leaves. When leaves wilt, throw in the shredded cabbage.

Give it a mix. Then add the salt, red chili powder, coriander powder and mix.

Cook the cabbage covered for 2 mins.
Add the sugar, green peas.

Mix it well and cook the cabbage covered for about 5-7 mins. Keep stirring once a while to avoid burning of cabbage.
The cabbage should get cooked by 7-9 mins.

Turn off the heat once the cabbage is cooked & yet firm.
Add the coriander leaves & mix.
Serve the sabzi/palya hot with roti or rice.

Notes:
If you are using fresh peas instead of frozen, make sure to boil the peas before adding it to the sabzi.
I did not have coriander leaves. So, I skipped it.
Instead of peas, you could add cubed potatoes too. Ensure to make small cubes of the potatoes for faster cooking.

Spinach Cabbage Paratha | Gobhi Palak ke parathe

Parathas are pan fried flat breads. Parathas are usually stuffed with boiled or sauteed vegetables and are eaten with plain yogurt, pickle or a dal (cooked lentils). Here are some of the paratha recipes.

Aloo Paratha
Mixed vegetable paratha
Broccoli Paratha
Rice Dumpling Paratha

My son's latest craze are the parathas. He wants paratha every other day. He says he likes dosas only in summer & when it is fall, it is paratha time for him.To make my son happy, I try to give him paratha atleast once a week. I do not like to stuff the parathas every other day, hence I add the vegetables to the dough itself & make parathas. Cabbage & spinach is one such. It is very easy to make & is quite healthy.

Preparation Time: 20-25 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4 (makes about 8-9 parathas)

Ingredients:
For the dough:
Whole wheat flour | atta | godhi hittu: 2 cups
Finely shredded cabbage: 1 cup
Finely chopped spinach: 1/2 cup, tightly packed
Carom seeds | Ajwain | Om kalu: 1/2 tsp
Salt: As needed
Oil: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: a pinch
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp, optional
Water: As needed

Other ingredients:
whole wheat flour : For rolling the parathas
Oil: For pan frying the parathas

Method:
Mix all the ingredients mentioned for the dough(except water) in a bowl. Mix it well & leave it aside for 10 mins (Do not add any water yet!). Cabbage would have oozed out some water.
Slowly add couple of tbsps of water at a time & make a stiff dough. Don't get tempted to add more water. Remember the cabbage will ooze out water.
Let the dough rest for 5-10 mins.

Make lemon sized balls out of the dough.
Roll these balls using a rolling pin. You could make them thin or keep it thick. I generally make my parathas thin & hence roll it thin.

Meantime, heat the griddle on a med-high heat.
Finish rolling all the dough balls.
When the griddle is hot, place the rolled paratha on the griddle. Add few drops of oil to the sides & onto the center of the paratha. Pan fry it until golden brown spots appear.

Flip it & cook it on the other side too. Remember to add few drops of oil on the flipped side too.
Remove the cooked paratha from the griddle. Repeat until all the parathas are pan fried.
Serve these parathas hot with a dal or yogurt or a pickle.

Notes:
I am repeating again. Cabbage will ooze out water & hence be extra careful while adding the water to make the dough.
DO NOT REST THE DOUGH FOR A LONG TIME. The dough will become sticky.
Pan fried parathas remain soft for a long time. Hence, you could roll, cook & then store them for the rest of the day.
You could store the cooked paratha in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Parathas need more oil to cook. Hence, don't be very stingy in adding oil. You could replace oil with butter or ghee (clarified butter). 

Indo Chinese Tortilla | Tortilla Noodles | Masala Tortilla

I buy a pack of tortilla once a while to make the breakfast burritos or the cheese quesadilla. I pack the burritos to my hubby's lunch box too. Most of the times after making a couple of burritos, I forget about the remaining tortillas. They rot in the fridge for many days & one fine day, tortillas find its way to our tummies in the form of Tortilla noodles or this masala tortilla.
I couldn't think of a proper name to this recipe. Could you guys suggest me something? It is similar to the noodles but I cut the tortilla into bite sized pieces. I call it masala tortilla at home, but I haven't used any Indian spices. Request you guys to come up with an apt name.
If you like Indo Chinese recipes, you will love this for sure. For a healthier alternative, use whole wheat or multigrain tortilla.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10-15 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Tortilla* : 3 nos, cut into bite sized pieces (about 1 inch long)
Oil: 2 tsp
Onion: 2 tbsp, chopped fine
Cabbage: 1/4th cup
Garlic: 1 pod, minced
Bell pepper: 3 tbsp, finely chopped
Vinegar**: 2 tsp
Soya sauce: 2 tsp
Chilli sauce: 2 tsp (I have used Sriracha sauce)
Salt: As needed
Pepper powder: a pinch

* I have used flour tortilla. Feel free to use any kind of tortilla you have at hand.
** I have used distilled white vinegar.

For the garnish:
Spring onion greens finely chopped (I did not have it & so skipped it)

Method:
Heat oil in a broad pan. When oil is hot, add the onions. Saute the onions on a medium-high heat for 2 mins until the onions are slightly browned & crunchy.
Add the garlic & saute. Throw in the finely chopped cabbage & toss.
When cabbage is cooked, add in the bell peppers & toss. Always maintain the medium-high heat.
Add in the chopped tortilla, vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce, salt, pepper powder & toss until the sauces blend in. 
Turn off the heat & serve it hot.

Palak Cabbage Pakora | Spinach and Cabbage Fritters

I made these pakoras on a cold snowy & a lazy Sunday afternoon. They are a breeze to make & absolutely delicious!! Go ahead...It's alright to indulge in these fried beauties once a while.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

Shredded Spinach: 2 cups
Shredded Cabbage: 1 cup
Carom seeds/Ajwain/Om kalu: 1 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Gram flour/Besan: 1 cup
Rice flour: 2 tbsp
Fine Rava/Chiroti rava/Cream of wheat: 2 tbsp
Hot oil: 1 tbsp
Water: Approximately 1 to 1.25 cups

Other ingredients:
Oil for deep frying the fritters.

Method:

Mix in the shredded spinach, cabbage, carom seeds, red chili powder, turmeric powder & salt in a large bowl.

Let the mixture sit for 5-10 mins. The mixture will ooze out water.
Next, throw in the rice flour, cream of wheat, gram flour to it.

Pour in the hot oil & mix them all together.
Now, slowly add the water & make a thick batter. The batter should be of dropping consistency.

Heat enough oil in a kadai/wok for deep frying the fritters.
When oil is hot enough, drop in a tbsp of batter at a time to the oil.
Cook the fritters on med-high heat, on all the sides until the fritters are golden brown & crisp.
Remove the fritters using a slotted spoon & let them dry on a paper towel.
Serve these fritters hot with a dip/chutney or ketchup.

Vegetable Fried Rice (Indo Chinese)

Chinese food(Actually Indianized version of Chinese food) is available as street food in most parts of Karnataka, India. We get veg noodles, fried rice, gobi manchurian just like the golgappe & churmuri by the roadside vendors.Those street vendors are very creative & to attract the crowd they make various & delicious versions of the normal fried rice.

Though I am not a great fan of this Indian version of the Chinese food, my hubby just loves to eat them. He craves for the gobi manchurian & other Chinese food too.  BTW, Chinese food served in Singapore is completely different than what we used to taste back in India.

Today I'm presenting Sush's version of Chinese fried rice. I have tried many versions & found this version suiting our taste buds. So, I always stick to this now.

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 3 cups (Other long grain rice should also be fine)
Water: 6 cups
Vegetables of your choice: 1 cup (I have used carrots, peas, snowpeas,  sweet corn, beans, paneer(cottage cheese))
Cabbage: 1/2 cup (shredded)
Spring onion: 2 tbsp (finely chopped white portion)
Garlic: 3 pods (minced)
Light soy sauce: 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup: 1 tbsp
Green chilli sauce: 1 tbsp (adjust according to your family needs)
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Ajinomoto/MSG: A small pinch (optional)
Salt: According to taste
Green chilli: 2 nos (finely chopped)
Oil: 1.5 tbsp

For garnishing:
Parsley: 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Spring onion greens: 2 tbsp (finely chopped)

Method:

• Cook the rice & allow it to cool. Gently scoop out the rice & spread it for the rice to cool.
• Meantime, chop the carrots & snowpeas lengthwise. Cook the vegetables, peas, sweet corn for 2-3 minutes until a little soft & crunchy. Drain the water
• Heat oil in a broad wok. When oil is hot, add garlic & saute till they turn golden. Then add spring onion whites & fry till they are soft. Follow spring onion whites by green chilli, cabbage & saute the cabbage until it is soft & yet firm (It would take around 2-3 minutes). Add the cooked vegetables & paneer & saute for 30secs.
• Add the rice, soy sauce, tomato ketchup, vinegar, green chilli sauce, salt, MSG & mix them well. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Finally garnish it with parsley & spring onion greens. Mix & serve it hot.

Tips:

• Few people prefer to eat it with chilli sauce or with tomato sauce. So, feel free to serve it with whatever your loved ones prefer. I love to eat it as is. 
• Feel free to add vegetables of your choice. Some other vegetables that go well are cauliflower, mushroom, tofu & baby corn.

Cabbage Pakoda (Yelekosu Pakoda)

After seeing LG's plate that contained bisibelebath, my tastebuds went crazy & they wanted me to fulfill their wish. Also, started missing Deepavali with all the family members. The entire family meet on these 3 days however busy they are. This year, we 3 were missing & all members celebrated the Deepavali in India.

I recalled my mom-in-laws dishes on the Amavyse day(Lakshmi Pooja). She prepares Paradi payasa (must item, she can never miss this), bisibelebath, vada/pakoda, rice, rasam, palya etc.., the list grows. My hubby's aunt prepares so many dishes on the Naraka Chaturdashi day like ottu shavige(Idiyappam), kaayi-halu, majjige huli, mango chutney, rasam, rice.., che!!, I missed it :(( All 3 days would be a fest for our taste-buds. These days, a special addition would be done along with the above mentioned recipes. My sis-in-law started preparing godi shira (wheat flour kesaribath).

So, I made a subset of what mentioned above on the Amavyse day. I prepared bisibelebaath, godi shira & cabbage pakoda. Had big plans for the Bali-Padyami too, but fell sick. So, didnot prepare anything great on that day :((



Here is the recipe of cabbage pakoda. Godi shira will be posted soon :))

Ingredients:
1 cup besan/channa dal flour/kadale hittu
1/2 cup chiroti rawa/fine semolina
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup akki hittu/rice flour
250gms cabbage (finely chopped)
salt according to taste
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp hot oil
a pinch of baking soda
Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Mix the besan, rawa, rice flour together with hot oil, soda, chilli powder & salt.
• Prepare a batter with the mixture using little water(similar to onion pakoda mixture). The batter should besimilar to idli batter.
• Now, add the cabbage to it.
• Heat the oil (for deep frying) in a kadai & when oil is hot, make small balls of this mixture & fry it till it turns golden brown in color.
• Pakodas are ready to be served with pudina chutney/tomato sauce.