Thanks to my father’s job in an Indian Government department – Border Roads Organization (BRO), we got the opportunity to live in a lot of remote, unexplored places across India, mostly near the Indian border areas. The days spent in those places were the best days of my life. In their free time, the wives of all the BRO officers, who were from different regions of India used to share their food and recipes with each other. That’s the reason why my mother regularly cooks so many different dishes from all over the country. Today’s recipe, Cabbage poriyal, also known as Cabbage thoran is also one such dish that my mother learned from her South Indian friends in BRO. It’s a very easy South Indian style stir-fried cabbage recipe that gets ready in less than 30 minutes. You can make it with a lot of other vegetables like beetroot poriyal, french beans poriyal, potato poriyal, etc.
What goes in cabbage poriyal (cabbage thoran)?
To make cabbage poriyal, you will need the ingredients shown below:
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
Coconut: Use shredded fresh coconut. It’s a key ingredient in this dish which makes it different from a regular stir-fried cabbage recipe. Onion: You can also use shallots. Curry leaves: Fresh curry leaves are the best but, if you can’t find them dried or frozen ones can be used too. Chana dal and urad dal: These are different types of lentils that add a crunch to poriyal. You can skip one of them if you don’t have both. You can also soak chana dal in water for a few minutes before adding it to the dish to make it less crunchy. I don’t do that because I enjoy crunchy dal in this dish. Asafoetida: Also known as hing, it’s a very strong and pungent spice, and generally only around a pinch of it is used in a recipe. You can find it easily in the spice section of any Indian grocery store or online too. If you are on a gluten-free diet, make sure to use gluten-free asafoetida as some brands add flour to it while processing. This spice not only enhances the aroma and flavor of a dish but also helps in easy digestion. Cooking oil: Poriyal tastes the best if cooked in coconut oil. However, if you don’t like the taste of coconut oil, use any other cooking oil of choice.
How to make (Step by step instructions)?
Step 1: Heat oil in a cooking pot. Break dried red chilies into 2-3 pieces and add to the oil along with urad dal, chana dal, and mustard seeds. Saute for about 1-2 minutes or until the ingredients become fragrant. Add asafoetida and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds. Step 2: Add chopped onion and green chilies. Step 3: Cook until the onion turns translucent. Step 4: Add turmeric powder. Step 5: Saute for a few seconds. Step 6: Add shredded cabbage. Steps 7 and 8: Add salt and mix Step 9: Stir fry on medium heat until the cabbage gets cooked but is still crunchy. Step 10: Add shredded coconut. Step 11: Mix and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Step 12: Add chopped cilantro. Mix. Your delicious South Indian-style cabbage fry is ready to be served!
Serving suggestions
Traditionally it’s served hot or warm as a side dish with steamed rice and sambhar, rasam, or a dal like moong dal or chana dal. If you want, you can also serve it with roti/ paratha or any other Indian bread.
Other easy South Indian recipes
Though I am from North India, South Indian food is loved by everyone in my family and is cooked quite often. If you also like South Indian food, and want to try making some easy South Indian dishes at home then don’t miss checking out the following links:
More easy cabbage recipes
Looking for more ways of eating cabbage? Don’t miss to check out the following easy cabbage recipes: If you liked this recipe, please leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in the recipe card below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest.
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