Curry In Kadai ~ An Indian Cooking Blog

What would you do with leftover rice? I usually end up having it with some pickle and yogurt. Sometimes i try to use leftover rice to make a complete sumptuous nutritional meal. What could be more nutritious than loading up simple rice with tons of vegetables anf flavoring it up with ginger, garlic and cilantro? I exactly did the same thing with my leftover rice, added an array of vegetables on hand like Carrots, Napa Cabbage, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Beans, Peppers, Onions, Green Peas etc and jazz it up with Green chillies, Ginger and Garlic.

• 1 cup Basmati rice( i used leftovers )
• 1 tomato chopped
• 2 Carrots cut as discs
• 15 Green beans - french cut
• 1/4 Napa cabbage cut lengthwise
• 1 small Onion - chopped length wise
  
• 1 medium Green Pepper
• 1/2 Red Pepper( i didn't have on hand though, optional )
• 3-4 Green Chillies - chopped
  
• 1 inch Ginger root - chopped
  
• 2 Garlic cloves - chopped
  
• 1/4 cup Green Peas
• 2 tsp Soya Sauce
• 1-2 tbsp oil
  
• Half cucumber( English cucumber )
• Black pepper to taste

• Wash the basmati rice and cook according to package instructions. You can use any rice on hand, i like this basmati long grain rice better though
• Prep all the vegetables, wash, clean. chop and keep aside
• In a kadai / stir fry saute pan heat oil on high heat. Add onions ans saute for 30 sec
• Now add ginger, garlic, green chillies, carrots and beans, stir in some salt too, as salt speeds up the process of cooking
  
• After stir frying for 2 mins, add green pepper and green peas
• Once the veggies are half cooked i.e, veggies should still be crispy yet without the raw smell, add Napa cabbage, tomato, cucumber  and stir fry for a min or so.
• Lower the heat and add cooked rice, ground black pepper and soy sauce
• Add cilantro and adjust salt to taste

Not many people like Cabbage. Its not the cabbage that tastes bad, since the way it is cooked defines its taste. Cabbage when properly cooked becomes an all time favorite. I myself hated to have cabbage curry when i was a kid and i used to pester my mom a lot. I used to make those faces and eat without any choice. Now i know the reason why i didnt like it. She used to boil cabbage and then saute with tadka. Somehow the smell when cabbage is boiled makes me nauseate. But later my mom started making without actually boiling cabbage.


Cabbage cooked along with potatoes, peas and sweet touch of coconut takes the plain cabbage to the next level. This following recipe is from my MIL and no wonder this curry is my husbands favourite. The funny part is he eats most of the potatoes and i eat the cabbage but we do share peas together in this curry(hehehe). Weird, he likes potatoes but not the cabbage but still wants cabbage in the curry.. CONFUSING right! Moving to the recipe..,


You need:

• 2 cups of tightly packed medium finely chopped cabbage
• 1 large red/boiling potatoes( No Idaho or baking potatoes please )
• 1/2 cup peas
• 4-6 green chillies
• 1/4 cup of grated fresh coconut
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 3 stalks cilantro
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin seeds( jeela karra )
• 1 tsp mustard seeds( Aavalu )
• 3-4 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste
  

• Chop cabbage finely, potatoes 1 inch cubes and green chillies length wise
• In kadai or pan heat oil and add cumin and mustard seeds
• When they start to pop add curry leaves, green chillies
• Add potatoes and green peas
  
• Saute for a min and then add cabbage
• Add salt and turmeric and mix together and cover with a lid
  
• Cook on medium flame stirring occassionaly. Make sure you dont burn cabbage
• When the potato is cooked add coconut and fry till all the water evaporates
• Adjust salt to taste
• Switch off the heat and add chopped coriander