Cabbage & Pea Shaak

Shaak is how Gujarati people refer to their vegetable dishes. Also called subzi or subji, it’s quick and easy to prepare and is cooked in a combination of Indian spices. This shaak is a simple stir fry of cabbage and green peas that have been lightly spiced and cooked fairly quickly. I love cabbage for its range of nutritional benefits. It is a low calorie vegetable that is rich in vitamins and minerals and has a high fibre content.

Prep Time: 10 mins             Cook Time: 15 mins             Total Time: 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• Small dried red chilli
• Small stick of cinnamon
• 1 large scallion (or small onion) finely sliced
• Salt to taste
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 3 tsp coriander cumin powder
• ½ medium sized white cabbage chopped
• ¼ cup peas
• 1-2 tbsp. water (if needed)
• Fresh coriander for garnish

Instructions

Heat the oil in a medium sized frying pan.

Once hot, add mustard seeds and let them pop.

Next, add the cumin seeds, dried red chilli and cinnamon stick and let them sizzle.

Put in your sliced onions, salt and turmeric and stir well.

Cook onions for a couple of minutes and then add garlic and ginger paste, chilli powder and coriander cumin powder.

Mix well and cook for a minute.

Add chopped cabbage to the mixture and stir everything together.

Cover the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes and then add the peas.

Allow it to cook for another 5-10 minutes until all the flavours are absorbed by the cabbage.

Make sure to stir in between so that it doesn’t stick to bottom of the pan. If it is sticking, you can add 1 tbsp. of water.

Once cooked, garnish with coriander and serve with another curry of your choice and hot chapattis.

P.S. I like the addition of onions in this dish, but you can leave out the onions if you prefer not to use them.  Any leftover makes a good filling in a sandwich or a chapatti roll for lunch the next day.