Sri Lankan fried cabbage

Sri Lanka is calling me when I eat this! With chilli, mustard and turmeric, it's full of flavour.

Sri Lankan fried cabbage. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 dried long red chillies
• 8 cm piece pandan leaf, cut into 2 cm pieces (remove the stalk)
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 400 g green cabbage, thinly sliced
• Salt to taste

Coconut sambal

• ¾ cup desiccated coconut plus hot water
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• Pinch chilli flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼ red onion, diced
• 1 lime, juiced

To garnish

• 1 long red chilli, finely sliced
• 2 sprigs coriander, leaves picked

Serves: 2 as main, 4 as a side.

Instructions

1. Add coconut oil to a hot pan over medium heat.
2. Place onion, chilli and pandan leaf in the oil and fry until golden.
3. Add the mustard seed, turmeric and fenugreek seeds and cook for 20 seconds with the ingredients.
4. Add the cabbage and a pinch of salt  and cook for 3 minutes
5. Add 50ml of water and cook for 2 minutes with the lid off or until the cabbage has softened.  
6. For the coconut sambal blitz all of the ingredients, except for the lime, for the coconut sambal until combined. Stir lime juice through. Place in a serving dish.
7. Top the cabbage with red chilli sliced and coriander leaves. Serve with sambal.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.