Stir fry cabbage: fragrant and nutty

I'm sure that like me, you try to eat seasonally too. The thing is that sometimes things can be in such abundance that you run out of ideas how to prepare them. We're always trying to come up with ways to make the familiar a little different, if not, we can find ourselves eating the same dish over and over again.

In Indo-Caribbean cooking, infused oils are used to chunkay (tadka) certain dishes such as dhal and a variety of choka(s). Using the same principle of a chunkay, I made this stir fry cabbage. The toasted coconut on top, well, that was thrown in because I had some remaining from another dish I was making. It all came together nicely. Crisp cabbage, fragrant with oil toasted garlic, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Nutty with toasted coconut.

Stir-fry Cabbage with Infused Oil

3 tablespoons oil, divided (1 tablespoon and 2 tablespoons, respectively)
1 pound shredded cabbage
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 chili, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 to 8 curry leaves (optional)
1/4 cups freshly grated coconut, toasted

Heat pan until very hot; add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl it in pan.

Add the cabbage and toss for 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and set aside (keep warm).

Add remaining oil in a small frying pan and heat. Toss in mustard seeds, as soon as they begin to pop, add chili and garlic, cook until the edges of the garlic start to colour slightly then add curry leaves, cook for 30 seconds.

Pour oil with aromatics over the cabbage and toss to mix.

Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve as a side dish.

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