Spicy Indian Red Cabbage

Our Spicy Indian Red Cabbage recipe is delicious beyond belief! It is inspired by one of the most flavorful cuisines, which also happens to be one of the most vegan-friendly ones! You might have to make a trip to your local Asian store to get some goodies, but it is totally worth it.

To make this dish more authentic, we will use an Indian cooking technique called Tarka, meaning that we will briefly cook dried spices in hot oil to bring out their flavor. This is either done as the first stage of cooking or done separately at the end and then poured over the prepared dish (try it on mashed potatoes, served with an Indian-spiced veggie burger and a side vegetable!).

Recipe yield
2 servings
Total time
20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp light vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp kalonji (black onion seeds/black cumin seeds)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 dried red chili, crushed, or ¼ tsp cayenne powder, or to taste (optional)
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • ½ a red cabbage, sliced into long strips
  • Hot vegetable stock or water, as needed
  • 1 tsp garam masala

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil over low-medium heat. Add the kalonji, and stir for a few seconds. Then add the other seeds, and the chili if using, and stir for a couple more seconds.
  2. Add the onion and garlic, and fry for a few minutes, until softened.
  3. Add the cabbage, and fry for a few minutes.
  4. Next, add enough hot stock or water to cover the bottom of the pan, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender.
  5. Uncover, stir in the garam masala, and simmer off any remaining water.
  6. Serve with rice, other Indian vegetable dishes, cooked tofu, and Indian bread.
  • You can vary the seeds used, or add finely chopped fresh ginger at the same time as the onion and garlic.

Check out some of our other Indian-inspired recipes: Indian Pea, Vegetable and Cashew Curry, Traditional Indian Curry, or Indian Lentil Soup.

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