Easy Indian red cabbage stir fry

Indian-style red cabbage is a quick and easy stir-fry recipe that's vegan and gluten-free. Other than red cabbage it also has vegetables like carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and green peas. It's a great recipe for those who want to add more vegetables to their diet.

What's needed to make Indian-style red cabbage?

Here's all you need to make this easy red cabbage recipe:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

• Red cabbage: Red cabbage is also known as purple cabbage. A similar dish can also be made by using regular green cabbage or white cabbage. 
• Other vegetables: I have also added potato, carrot, bell pepper, and green beans to red cabbage sabzi. You can add other vegetables too like green beans, cauliflower, or broccoli. You can also skip some vegetables if you want.
• Ginger and garlic: I prefer using fresh ginger and garlic in my recipes. But, you can use store-bought ginger-garlic paste too.
• Onion: Red onion is the best for Indian recipes but if you don't have that, use yellow onion.
• Green chilies: Skip adding green chilies if your heat tolerance is low or remove some of their seeds. You can use jalapeno too, it will be milder than Indian or Thai green chilies.
• Lime: Adding lime juice is optional but it adds a refreshing taste to this red cabbage stir fry. You can also use lemon juice or dry mango powder instead of lime juice.
• Black mustard seeds: In most savory Indian dishes the first step is tempering hot cooking oil with one or more spices. This step is known as tadka. It helps in infusing the flavor of spices in the oil. In this Indian cabbage recipe, I tempered the oil with black mustard seeds. You can use cumin seeds too. Or, if you have both these spices, use both of them. Panch phoran which is a blend of 5 Indian spices, can also be used.
• Powdered spices: I used turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, and garam masala. You can also add other powdered spices like cumin powder, kitchen king masala, or curry powder to flavor the dish. Add garam masala in moderation otherwise, it will overpower all the other flavors. All the spices used in this recipe are easily available in Indian grocery stores and online too. 
• Cooking oil: Use any cooking oil of your choice. Mustard oil, olive oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil all are fine. If you like the taste of coconut oil you can use that too. Non vegans may use ghee or butter too.

Other ingredient details and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.

How to make (step-by-step instructions)?

To make this Indian red cabbage recipe, just follow the easy step-by-step instructions given below:

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Let the seeds splutter for a few seconds.

Step 2: Add sliced onion and cook until the onion turns translucent.

Step 3: Add minced garlic and sliced green chilies. Saute for a few seconds.

Step 4: Add red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, and garam masala. Saute for around 30 seconds.

Step 5: Add chopped tomatoes and salt. 

Step 6: Cook until the tomatoes turn mushy.

Step 7: Add chopped potato, carrot, bell pepper, and green peas.

Step 8: Mix and cover the pot. 

Step 9: Cook covered for around 12-15 minutes or until the potatoes are almost cooked.

Step 10: Remove the lid and add red cabbage. 

Step 11: Mix and cook covered for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Step 12: Add lime juice and cilantro. Mix.

Your Indian red cabbage sabzi is ready to be served.

Serving red cabbage sabzi

Serve red cabbage sabzi hot.

It tastes best with crispy plain paratha (a type of Indian bread) but you can also enjoy it with any other Indian flatbread like roti or poori.

This cabbage sabzi can also be served with rice and dal.

You can stuff the leftover sabzi in wraps or sandwiches too.

Storing, freezing, and reheating the leftovers

Store the leftover dish in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 3-4 days.

This vegetable dish also freezes well. To freeze, put it in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze. It will be fine for up to 3 months.

To reheat, if the dish is frozen thaw it first. Then, transfer to a pan and reheat on the stovetop on medium heat, stirring regularly in between.

You can also microwave it to reheat.

What to do with the remaining red cabbage?

Generally, we all buy the whole head of red cabbage and this recipe needs only 5 cups of chopped red cabbage. So, if you are left with some uncooked red cabbage and want to use it then you can try the following red cabbage recipes from my blog:

1. Red cabbage soup
2. Spicy red cabbage-Asian style
3. Thai red cabbage salad
4. Edamame rice

Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions

• Instead of red cabbage, you can also use green cabbage or white cabbage.
• You can skip 1-2 vegetables if you don't have all. Just red cabbage and potatoes also taste great together.
• Cut the vegetables in almost the same size so they get cooked evenly and the dish also looks more appealing.
• Fresh curry leaves can also be added to the oil along with mustard seeds to add more flavor to this dish.
• Add garam masala in moderation as it has a very strong flavor.

Frequently asked questions

More easy Indian recipes

If you enjoyed this easy recipe and want to try more Indian cooking in your kitchen then don't miss to check out the following links:

1. Aloo matar
2. Aloo baingan
3. Mixed vegetable curry
4. Aloo patta gobhi
5. Aloo Shimla mirch
6. Aloo beans
7. Bhindi masala
8. Bhindi ki sabzi
9. Green peas curry
10. Quinoa khichdi
11. Curried rice

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