Cabbage Rice

There are three kinds of leafy vegetables - the greens like spinach and fenugreek that taste heavenly when cooked. And then there are the greens like lettuce and arugula that make a salad interesting. And then, there is the poor cabbage that doesn't really taste interesting cooked or raw, unless of course if your mom cooked it.

Cabbage, when cooked, has to be had with something spicy to make it interesting. I wanted to include cabbage in our dinner the other night, but didn't want to cook the de facto kaara kuzhambu to go with it. So, I came up with this dish. I added chickpeas to give it a little textural and visual interest.

Cabbage Rice

Here's a different way to include cabbage in your diet.

Ingredients:

• Cabbage, chopped fine - 3/4th head
• chickpeas - 1 cup raw or 3/4 cup canned
• onion, chopped fine - 1
• fennel seeds - 1/2 tbsp
• cinnamon stick - 1 inch
• green chillies - 3 big
• ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• fennel powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• coriander powder - 1/4 tbsp
• oil, for sauteing
• salt, to taste

Method:

1. If using raw chickpeas, soak chickpeas in enough water for 6-8 hours and pressure cook.
2. Chop cabbage and onion finely. I used a food processor to chop these.
3. Start cooking the rice in a pressure cooker or rice cooker.
4. Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed saute pan, heat oil on medium high heat.
5. When the oil is ready, add fennel seeds and cinnamon stick.
6. When the spices start to give out a nice flavor, add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste.
7. Stir this once or twice until the ginger and garlic is roasted well.
8. Add the onions and a little salt. The onions will take around 5 minutes to turn translucent.
9. Now add the chopped cabbage and enough salt.
10. Cover and cook until cabbage has cooked. Do not over cook the cabbage. Since we have chopped the cabbage super fine, it will not be crunchy.
11. Add fennel powder and coriander powder and stir well to incorporate the powders.
12. Let it sit on fire for another 3 minutes before removing the pan.
13. When the rice is done, empty the pot into a big wide mouthed mixing bowl.
14. Add a little extra virgin olive oil or gingelly oil to the rice and fluff with a fork. This will help the rice to retain its shape.
15. Now mix the prepared cabbage masala into the rice.
16. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
17. Garnish with cilantro and serve with a spicy curry.

This rice is slightly on the sweet side, as we do not use any chili powder or garam masala. So, serving it with a spicy curry balances the taste.

This rice is a sure winner in parties because of its unique taste. Try it and let me know if you think so too!

Also, this is the first time I have attempted to style my food.

Do you have any words of wisdom for me? Or rotten tomatoes? :)

Linking with Preeti's Kitchen Life, , Zesty South Indian Kitchen, Cook's Joy, Hema's Adugamane, Cook Like a Celebrity Chef event by Food Corner