कोबीच्या वाड्या (Spicy Cabbage Cake)

Over the weekend,we had been to two very good restaurants namely Loving Hut (Vegan Food) and Madhuban (Indian Cuisine). Both were suggested by my cousin brother Amit dada & his beautiful wife Bhakti . Guys,the food was Awesome! Thanks for tipping us about the place! Btw,I owe a big thank-you to Bhakti for lending me her personal copy of  “Ruchira” (hopefully,I can keep up to your expectations now!! And,yes will post a mutton or chicken biryani recipe soon !)

Loving Hut (moderately expensive) is a delight for veggies and soy bean lovers.Wonderful yams & tofu served in a manner that one could mistake them for shrimps or prawns!The Heavenly salad,Pad Thai,brown rice,Mu Shu rolls & Spicy Cha Cha are a must have.A wide range of vegan desserts to “finito” the meal.

Madhuban is atypical Indian restaurant (not very expensive) and we had Spicy Murgh Mirchiwala with naans (naan-the size is too small).Do try these and share your views with Moi.

Anyway,its Monday and I should get back to business!

This is the beginning of “Diwali Week & Half special” .I have tried to pick up some interesting recipes from the book that have been put up in yesterday’s blog post.

I made Kobichya Wadya  (कोबीच्या वाड्या).These Spicy Cabbage Cakes are not very popular but are extremely tasty,nutritious & easy to make.Cabbage is not one of the favourites of kids.Bhakti (brother’s wife) has a tough time feeding it to  Archit & Nimoli (my nephew & niece)

Total Time=Cooking Time + Preparation Time=35 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 small cabbage-shredded coarsely (@ 3 muffin-full bowls)
• 1 muffin-full bowl of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 muffin-full bowl of green peas
• 1/2 muffin-full bowl of sweet corn
• 1/4 muffin-full bowl of gram flour (बेसन)
• 1/4 muffin-full bowl of rice flour (my addition)
• 1/4 muffin-full bowl of all roasted-flavoured cereal & pulses flour (भाजाणी).This is my addition.This flour is traditionally done in India in flour mills.
• 2 tsp poppy seeds (खसखस),roasted & crushed manually
• 1 tsp Aniseed (बडीशोप)-I forgot to get it,so didn't add it!
• 2 cloves (लवंग)
• 1 small stick of cinnamon (दालचिनी), roasted & crushed manually (my addition)
• Dry coconut-I skipped this ingredient
• 2 tsp black pepper-roasted & crushed manually (my addition)
• 2 tsp Sesame-I used white sesame since the type of sesame wasn’t mentioned.
• 1/4 tsp Shahajeera (शहाजिरे type of cumin seeds)-I used roasted & manually crushed seeds.
• 2 tsps coriander seeds-I used the roasted & manually crushed coriander seeds.
• 1 tsp cumin seeds-roasted & powdered (my addition)
• 1-2 tsp red chili powder (as per taste)
• 1/4 tsp eating soda
• 1/4 muffin-full bowl of buttermilk.I didn’t have buttermilk so used low fat plain yogurt to make fresh buttermilk.
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp asafoetida
• 1-2 tsp of garam masala powder (my addition)
• vegetable cooking spray /oil
• 1/2 muffin-full bowl fresh,finely chopped coriander (my addition)
• 1 tsp dried mint leaves
• 2- finely chopped curry leaves (my addition)
• 3-5 finely chopped green chilies (my addition)
• 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic (my addition)
• 1 tsp finely chopped ginger (my addition)
• Salt & sugar to taste.
• Boiled water (1 cup-my addition)

Total Time=Cooking Time +Preparation Time=45 minutes.

Broil It Up

I made a traditional tadka in a saucepan using cooking spray,mustard seeds,asafoetida,turmeric powder,1 tsp green chili.The onions were moved into the saucepan with tadka.I sautéed them until golden brown.

Kamala Aji insists on usage of more oil,ghee and other such fattening things.In those days (when she was young),men & women walked a lot (lack of transportation systems) and did most of the household work (cooking,washing,cleaning,nurturing domestic animals etc).However,today we are more accustomed to 7am-7pm office job (lot of junk food and cold drinks) and subjected to stress & pollution like never before.We cannot quite find time to burn those extra calories from ghee etc,so I always prefer to skip such things.But,I strongly believe that optimum portions of such lubricants must be included in our diets (meals,not DIE-EATS as my brother Wick calls it!).

After the onions were cooked,I added the shredded cabbage in it as well.Let these vegetables cook together,so cover them up for few seconds on low-medium flame.Until it cooked,I crushed the green chilies,black pepper,curry leaves,garlic,ginger,coriander leaves,roasted powder (of cumin seeds+coriander seeds+cloves+cinnamon+poppy seeds +shahajeera),green peas as well as sweet corn into the blender.

I mixed the blended spices,sugar,salt,red chili powder,garam masala,eating soda with the sautéed onion & cabbage.I added the rice flour,gram flour & cereal-pulses flour to it along with buttermilk.

The mixture was very thick to work with hence added some boiled water to loosen it up.I kept it aside for 15 min and allowed it to marinate.

 

The book suggests a very traditional method which could have been possible if I had the “chuuul” & coal apparatus here.But,I cannot quite lay the mixture over a greased steel plate covered topped with hot coal over an electric gas.Hence,I broiled it in the Big Fat Oven for some time (the time may vary depending upon the oven).I added the sesame over the mixture just before putting it into the oven for broiling (the book suggests addition of sesame when the spices are crushed together).

I m sure few would definitely welcome a healthy variation in the regular “faral menu”.Try replacing “Bakar wadi” (बाकर वडी-another gram flour fritter stuffed with coconut and spices) with Cabbage Cake!

I tried out something interesting to give it an international appeal.I put some mixture on the skewers and made it into a “Vegan Saute”! Serve with mint chutney ,ketchup, yogurt or eat it JLT!

The green and yummy looking Cabbage cake is ready to tantalize a glutton’s taste buds!