This easy cabbage stir-fry was something my granny made quite often. Its light, aromatic flavour with just a hint of spice makes it a wonderful side dish for an Asian meal.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Easy Cabbage Stir-Fry
It really is easy, like this Sambal Stir-Fry with Prawns and Vegetables. This cabbage stir-fry recipe uses the most basic of ingredients, with only one possible exception, depending on where you are. It takes about 20 minutes to make, from start to finish. This is what we’ll be doing.
Time needed: 20 minutes
Prep Work
- Soak the Dal
I like to soak the dal with hot water (fresh off the boil) for as long as it takes me to finish all the prep work. This softens the dal and allows for easier digestion. You could skip this step really, as the dal will get cooked to a crunchy-ish state regardless. Since we’re using such a small amount, it doesn’t really matter.
- Chop and slice
We spend a few minutes slicing/shredding the cabbage and the aromatics.
- Fry the mustard seeds and dal
This is the first step and only requires about a minute or so.
See video in the recipe card below for the cooking process. - Add aromatics
The aromatics (onion, garlic, etc) then get a quick sauté.
- Cabbage goes in next
In this step, we give the curry leaves (if you have them) and turmeric a quick stir before adding the shredded cabbage. We mix it all well before adding a little water. Then, we cover and cook the cabbage until it’s tender. That’s it, our easy stir-fried cabbage is done.
The Ingredients
For the most part, we use everyday ingredients, let’s take a quick look.
Cabbage
Cabbage is the star of the show, and its blandness is allowed to shine through in this dish with just a very few flavourings. The humble white cabbage is best for this dish. Savoy cabbage has a stronger flavour and will probably need more seasoning to work in this simple recipe.
Spices
We’re only using black mustard seeds and turmeric powder. The latter accounts for that glorious yellow hue in our cabbage stir-fry.
This traditional recipe also has a tiny amount of dal for a little bite and flavour. My granny would always use chana dal, but I’ve also used urad dal in the past which works just as well.
Aromatics
We have the usual suspects here, with the addition of a dried red chilli and curry leaves. These 2, along with the black mustard seeds above, are a very typical South Indian combination. Very often it forms the basis of the tadka (tarka) step of a recipe. Or tempering, as it would be called in English. Like in this Coconut Chutney recipe.
If you don’t have access to Indian curry leaves, leave them out and finish the dish with some chopped up coriander leaves (cilantro).
Here is a 90-second video on my YouTube Channel where I talk about curry leaves. It’s a clip off my 5 Quick and Easy Weeknight Curries on Udemy.
The dried red chilli is merely there for flavouring and not heat. Any variety will do, as long as it’s not smoked.
So besides the above, we have onion, garlic, ginger and a mild green chilli. That’s it. You can see why it’s called Easy Stir-Fried Cabbage, can’t you?
How to Serve this Cabbage Stir-Fry?
It is a great side dish in any South Indian, Malay or Indonesian meal. I love it with rice naturally, but it is especially delicious with freshly made chapatis.
You could serve it with this Chicken Biryani, for example. It would also be perfect with many of our other chicken recipes like Ayam Masak Kicap.
When I was little, my grandpa would cook the chapatis, and my grandma would serve them alongside this cabbage stir-fry and some dal. Perfect comfort food, nothing else needed.
It’s delicious with any South Asian roti, be it chapatis, parathas or nans.
And there you have it, a super simple stir-fry and quick too. Let’s get cooking!
If you enjoy the recipe, drop me a comment and let me know. Feeling like a star? Don’t forget that 5-star rating!😉
If you make this recipe, post it on Instagram and tag me @azlinbloor and hashtag it #linsfood.
Lin xx
More Vegetable Side Dishes
Easy Cabbage Stir-Fry
Equipment
- knife
- chopping board
- wok or deep frying pan
- spatula
Ingredients
- ½ cabbage about 400g/14 oz
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil or mustard oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 60 ml water
Spices
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp chana dal or urad dal
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
Aromatics
- 2 curry leaves
- 1 green chilli
- 1 dried red chilli
- 1 small onion (pre peeled weight about 90g/3 oz)
- 1 garlic
- 2.5 cm ginger
Instructions
Prep Work
- Soak the dal in very hot water while you get everything else ready. Drain before using.
- Peel, halve, then slice the onion.Finely chop or mince the garlic and ginger.Slice the green chilli and break the dried one in 2.Thinly slice the cabbage.
Let's get Cooking
- See Video. Heat oil on medium-low, add mustard seeds and fry for 30 seconds. When they start to splutter, add the dal. Toss and fry for 30 seconds more.
- Add chillies, onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add curry leaves and turmeric. Stir, then add the cabbage and salt. Stir for 20 seconds, then add the water along the side of the pan, so as not to "rinse" the cabbage.Lower the heat right down, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes until the cabbage is soft. This will depend on the thickness of your cut cabbage. When done, check seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Serve immediately.This dish is best eaten with the cabbage cooked to a soft stage.
Video
