Saturday 27 April 2013

Help!  I'm about to go away for a few days, then back one day and away for a week's holiday. So am clearing the fridge, and found the following, cabbage, carrots, celery, half a leek, a bag of potatoes and 11 eggs.  What to do?!

One idea would be bubble and squeak but I remember when the children were little they loved this recipe by Madhur Jaffrey.  This amount just fits in my frying pan:

Gujerati Cabbage with Carrots


Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey, Barron's, Woodbury, NY, 1983. ISBN 0-8120-2700-0.

A good, quick dish that might put cabbage into its most edible form. Unfortunately, it doesn't keep too well (it will start smelling strong, even though it will taste fine).

Ingredients

  • 12 oz cabbage (about 1/4 of a medium green head)
  • 12 oz carrots
  • half a chilli (or chilli powder)
  • 4 tablespoons oil
  • A pinch of ground asafetida (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon whole black mustard seed
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • half a teaspoon sugar
  • 4 heaped tablespoons chopped fresh green coriander (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

  1. Shred the cabbage and grate the carrots coarsely. 
  2. Cut the green chili into thin, long strips.
  3. Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium-high heat. 
  4. When hot, put in the asafetida. 
  5. A second later, put in the mustard seeds (and a lid on top for when the seeds begin to pop!). 
  6. Then add the dried red chili. Stir once. 
  7. The chili should turn dark red in seconds. 
  8. Now put in the cabbage and carrots. 
  9. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the vegetables around for half a minute. 
  10. Add the salt, sugar, and green coriander. 
  11. Stir and cook until vegetables are just done and retain some of the their crispness. 
  12. Add the lemon juice and stir to mix.


The celery and half leek will be made into some soup to put in the freezer, for us to enjoy on my return.
... and as for the eggs: omelettes; scrambled egg; souffle (for another recipe page); sponge puddings; bread and butter pudding ....