Cabbage and potato Cooked in Bengali Style

This recipe is typical of bengali households barring the fact that some love to have it little sweet. My version is not sweet though. I strongly believe that the cutting of this vegetable plays a very important role in enhancing the taste. I have shown in the pics below as to how I exactly cut it. I tried  using the food processor,  but that didn’t work very well as it affects the look of the ready dish. And as I always believe that, its your eyes that eat first. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 300 gms of cabbage finely shredded
2. 1 large potato peeled and cut into dice sized cubes
3. 1 medium tomato chopped fine
4. 1 bay leaf
5. 1 small piece of grated ginger
6. 1 green chilli chopped finely
7. 2 tbsps oil
8. 1 tsp ghee
9. 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
10. 1/2 tsp each of turmeric powder,  cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder. 
11. 1 stick of cinnamon,  1/4 tsp of whole cumin seed and dry red chilli cut into thin strips
12. Salt to taste. 

Procedure

1. Cut the cabbage as you normally do or follow my method of cutting. 

1. Wash and leave it on a sieve to drain. 
2. Peel and cut the potato and  immerse it in water. 
3. Put a pan with oil on the fire and as soon as it gets hot, add cumin seeds, red chilli and cinnamon. 
4. As soon as the aroma fills the air,  add potatoes. Keep the flame on medium and add tomatoes, ginger and all the dry spices one by one. 
5. Fry till the potatoes get coated with all the spices.
6. Now, add the cabbage and salt and mix well. You can add sugar at this stage if you wish. 
7. Lower the flame, add bay leaf and cover the pan. 
8. We are looking for potatoes getting  cooked properly because cabbage doesn’t take very long to cook. (We don’t add water because fresh cabbage releases lot of water when covered and cooked.) 
9. Check whether the potatoes are cooked and then put the flame on high and fry stirring continuously. 
10. Add ghee and garam masala and fry till oil leaves the sides of the pan. 
11. Serve with flatbread and dal or rice and dal. 

The magic of spices takes this leafy vegetable to an altogether different level. Fresh or frozen peas go very well in this recipe.