Different Variations of Cabbage Koottu

Whenever my Mom cooked cabbage at home, we never used to go near the kitchen due to the pungent smell that came from it (I seldom took cabbage for lunch during my school days). But, after the dish was done, it tasted real good. I would call that the beauty of Indian cooking, to mask even the most repelling smell with the flavors of the spices used. My Mom makes cabbage koottu in 4 different ways and I'm going to jot down all the 4 methods here.

1st method

Ingredients (3 - 4 servings):

Cabbage - 1 small finely chopped
Sambar powder - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

To fry in 1 teaspoon of oil:

Channa dhal - 1/4 cup using a measuring cup

To grind:

Grated/powdered coconut - 3 tablespoons
Rice flour - 1 tablespoon

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few

Procedure:

1. Grind coconut and rice flour to a smooth paste and set aside.
2. Fry channa dhal in oil until it turns light golden brown in color and set aside.
3. Pressure cook cabbage, fried channa dhal and sambar powder with just enough water for the cabbage to cook.
4. To the pressure cooked mixture from step 3, add the ground paste and salt and bring it to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes and turn off the stove.
5. In a pan, add oil and after the oil gets heated, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Immediately after that, add urad dhal and asafoetida and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color. Add this to the cabbage and mix well.
6. Garnish with curry leaves.

2nd method

Ingredients (3 - 4 servings):

Cabbage - 1 small finely chopped
Moong dhal - 1/2 cup using a measuring cup
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Sambar powder - 1/4 tablespoon
Salt to taste

To grind to a paste:

Whole black pepper - 3 teaspoons
Cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Grated/powdered coconut - 3 tablespoons

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few

Procedure:

1. Grind coconut, whole black pepper and whole cumin seeds to a coarse paste and set aside.
2. Pressure cook cabbage, moong dhal, asafoetida and sambar powder with just enough water for the cabbage and dhal to cook.
3. Add the ground paste and salt to the cabbage from step 2 and bring it to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes and turn off the stove.
4. In a pan, add oil and after it gets heated, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Immediately after that happens, add urad dhal and fry until it turns light golden brown in color. Add this to the cabbage.
5. Garnish with curry leaves.

3rd method

Ingredients (3 - 4 servings):

Cabbage - 1 small finely chopped
Moong dhal - 3 tablespoons
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

To grind to a coarse paste:

Green chillies - 3 to 4 (based on how spicy you would want it to be)
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Dried red chilli - 1
Grated/powdered coconut - 3 tablespoons

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few

Procedure:

1. Grind cumin seeds, green chilli, red chilli and coconut to a coarse paste and set aside.
2. Pressure cook cabbage, moong dhal and asafoetida with just enough water to cook the cabbage.
3. Add the ground paste and salt to step 2 and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and turn off the stove.
4. In a pan, add oil and after it gets heated, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Immediately after that, add urad dhal and fry until it turns light golden brown in color. Add the mixture to step 4.
5. Garnish with curry leaves.

4th method

Everything is the same as the 3rd method except for the grinding part. Red chilli and urad dhal (1 teaspoon) fried in 1 teaspoon of oil together with raw cumin seeds, green chilli and coconut are to be ground to a paste and added to the mixture from step 2 in the 3rd method.

All the above 4 different variations of cabbage koottu go well with rice and chappathi. Enjoy!!!!!!!! :-)