Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Bandhakopi’r Tarkari

is Bengali for Sautéed Cabbage. This is a quick sauté of shredded cabbage cooked with diced potatoes, green peas, and a big juicy hothouse tomato.

IMG_8851Winters were the time my Mum would make this Bandhakopi’r Tarkari when cabbage was in season in India. And so was green peas.

We would eat it with daal and rice, often mixing everything together. Other times, this tarkari would be the side for khichudi along with ilish maach bhaja especially on a rainy Saturday.
IMG_8868Suffice it to say, this cabbage dish and the Cauliflower Curry traditionally announced winter in our home. The aroma from the slow cooking of the cabbage and spices would fill up our home and we would wait eagerly at the dinner table to eat a vegetarian meal. Very unusual if you know my family.
IMG_8855IMG_8854 IMG_8856 There is no mystery around Bandhakopi’r Tarkari, its a hand-me-down recipe passed along in every Bengali home. I am replicating an old time recipe for good time eating.

Ingredients for Bandhakopi’r Tarkari / Bengali Cabbage Curry are:

One medium head cabbage, shredded
2 medium white potatoes, diced
1 large ripe tomato, cubed
Half cup green peas, fresh or frozen
3-4 green chilies, broken
2 tablespoons ginger paste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1-2 black cardamoms
2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Half teaspoon garam masala powder (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom powdered together)
Half tablespoon sugar
Salt
3 tablespoons mustard oil (use canola if you don’t have mustard)

Wash all the ingredients thoroughly. You have to wash cabbage after you cut it. IMG_8858
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add the cardamom, bay leaf and cumin seeds in no particular order. Just ensure they don’t burn in the hot oil. Sauté for a few seconds and add the cubed potatoes. I like to get a little color on my potatoes, just to enhance their taste, instead of biting into bland blobs of starch. IMG_8859  
Add the shredded cabbage, along with the peas, tomato, ginger paste, couple of green chilies, turmeric powder, red chili powder, sugar and salt.
IMG_8861
Cover and cook for about 10 minutes on low heat. Let the sugar and salt do the cooking for you now. Salt will release moisture from the cabbage which helps in cooking in its own juices. This is known as kosha in Bengali. IMG_8862
Once the potatoes get cooked, its safe to crank the heat up and evaporate all the extra moisture, but not parch the cabbage.
IMG_8864
At this point add the garam masala powder and check the seasoning. IMG_8865 Mix well and serve hot with roti or parathas or rice and daal just like we love to have it. IMG_8867

7 comments:

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Pree
Very nice presentation for this great traditional recipe!!
Time to buy one off season Kofi and cook. ( contrary to popular belief, the summer B-kofi is quite tasty
Ghosh Kaku

Rajni said...

Nice...this is one vegetable I cannot make well...thanks for posting this :)

Srividhya Ravikumar said...

really interesting yaar.. new to me.. in my must try list.. following you..

Kalyan Karmakar said...

Looks quite tasty. The key to a good Bengali cabbage dish according to me is that the caggage should be cooked till its a bit soft. The photos in your post reflect that. And garam masal

Anonymous said...

Pree,

I tried this and it turned out very well! Thanks for your recipe.

-Shohini (Elly's mom)

Anonymous said...

Has all the right ingredients and looks delicious! One for me to try.

Dr. Jyotishka Datta said...

Baniye dekhlam, dibyi khete hoyeche.. aami jire ar shukno lonka bheje grind kore rekhe diy - rannata pray neme ele meshayi, khasha ekkhan gandho beroy tate.