I have 3 reasons to blog today…

The weather is great here today, though a little humid , its been so long since it has rained in this part of the world, My part of world has brown coloured trees not the usual green , thats how dry it is… so , its been an oasis in the desert for us today with the showers yesterday and the drizzle today.

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This is my tryst with tradition, my experience of “Cooking with Pedatha“. My pedatha, She is one helluva woman. Growing up in Hyderabad, I spent most of my free time after school/college at their place. I don’t remember missing a get together or a festivity at their place and have fun. Every function filled the house with relatives, cousins and friends. Sankranti was all about chakkarapongal and kites and Deepavali was all sweets and firecrackers. Although the kites meant, getting onto rooftops climbing precariously placed ladders or bursting firecrackers meant the traffic on the road was at our mercy.

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I like this curry because it goes really well with rice and roti. As I mentioned earlier this was taught to me by my eldest cousin who is a fabulous cook. She would whip up these dishes and give them exotic names and feed us any time of the day. Cabbage is not an often made curry at home without any reason. I prefer to mix it with other vegetables for colour and a different taste. So I added a chopped carrot, 10-12 string beans, a small potato and finely chopped medium onion, along with a head of a finely chopped cabbage .

For the Popu,
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1 teaspoon of Urad dal
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
2 dry red chilies
2 green chillies slit lengthwise
A few curry leaves.
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
Oil, Salt to taste.
For the Masala :
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1 tablespoon of poppy seeds powdered
1/4 cup of roasted Peanuts coarsely ground
1 teaspoon of dhaniya powder

Do the Popu/tadka/seasoning by heating oil in a skillet and by adding Urad dal, mustard seeds, red chili, green chili, curry leaves in that order one by one. once the curry leaves become crisp, add the onions and saute until they turn pink , add the potatoes and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the carrots, string beans and saute for another 2 minutes . Add the shredded cabbage, add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, salt to taste and keep covered and cook for another 12-15 minutes or until done.

While cooking the veggies, dry roast the poppy seeds until light brown and grind them separately. Note that they dont mix well and grind properly when other spices. Then grind the peanuts and sprinkle both the powders on the cooked curry. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the masala mixes well. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice or roti.