Cabbage and Pattani Poriyal (Cabbage and peas stir fry)

Stir fry dishes are very popular in the region I come from. But they are not called stir fries, we call them poriyal. With a simple tempering process, the vegetables are transformed into delicacies that one craves for. Strangely I like cabbage poriyal, in fact I like cabbage in all forms. This poriyal is generally had as side dish for rice and would go well for Chapatti as well. This recipe can be adopted for any vegetable. I just added the peas to get a two dimensional color to the finished product. With the daylight becoming shorter, the photos of the food under my kitchen light are shaded and sometimes they end up like stills out of a badly shot Mani Ratnam movie.

• Shredded or grated Cabbage – 2 cups
• Peas – ½ cup
• Green chillies – 2
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – 1 twig
• Salt as required.

Steam the cabbage and the peas till nearly done. I like a little crunch, but if you like it well done, you can cook it thru. Heat a spoon of oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop add the urad dal and when they turn golden add the curry leaves and the slit green chillies. After a few seconds add the steamed cabbage, peas and season it with salt. Stir fry it for a few minutes and remove from fire. It is a simple and easy dish.