Cabbage Salad But Cooked

Name: Cabbage Salad But Cooked
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp vegetable oil; ½ tsp black mustard seeds; 1/8 tsp asafetida; ¼ tsp turmeric powder; 1 Thai chile pepper chopped into two pieces lengthwise or crosswise (optional); 2 cups chopped cabbage; 1 tsp ground coriander; ¼ tsp Kashmiri chili powder; ¼ tsp salt; ½ cup chopped tomatoes (preferably juicy and ripe ones); ¼ cup chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Image of Cabbage Salad But Cooked — Photo by Anna Rathi

Servings

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

"Lightly cooked, al dente salads are common in Indian kitchens. This particular one is called Sambhaaro and it hails from Gujarat, a western Indian state. Sambhaaro is stir-fry in spirit because of its nifty preparation technique, which is cooking just enough to dispel the raw edge of cabbage. It invokes the salad vibe because the cabbage is crunchy. It reminds you of an Indian curry because of ground coriander and red chili powder. And because it ticks so many boxes, Sambhaaro can be served as a side dish, or a salad, or feel free to make a light lunch out of it."

Author:

Annada Rathi

Ingredients

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp asafetida
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 Thai chile pepper chopped into two pieces lengthwise or crosswise (optional)
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp Kashmiri chili powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chopped tomatoes (preferably juicy and ripe ones)
¼ cup chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Directions

Pour vegetable oil into a sauté pan and turn the heat to high.
After 2 minutes, add black mustard seeds and let them sizzle.
Once the sizzling and popping stops, add chile pepper pieces and stir. Make sure the pepper skin turns pale green.
Reduce the heat to medium and combine in asafetida and turmeric powder.
Tip in the cabbage and follow up with ground coriander, Kashmiri chili powder and salt. Stir well.
After a minute or so drop chopped tomatoes. Mix well and turn the heat off. As the cabbage salad cools down, the tomato will accent the salad with its tangy juice. We want the tomato to be ripe so it can impart its juice with even a tad bit of heat.
Garnish with cilantro.