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Jonathan returned from India this morning with a suitcase full of surprises that my dear friend Mary had organised for him. It was wonderful, as my whole kitchen oozed with the smells of India.

With him arrived an amazing cookbook written by Sandhya.

Any Western staying in Mysore for long periods is very familiar with this amazing lady who opens up her home and kitchen to prepare, cook and serve delicious, home-cooked, non-spicy meals to Western students. Whenever you arrive for lunch at Sandhya’s place, there is always an accumulating pile of sandals at the front door. Inside, you would retreat in the peaceful calmness of her house and the smells of the most delicious food cooking.  Sandhya and her girls would be dressed in their beautiful, bright sari, busy making chapatis and carrying bowls of freshly made steaming curries, palaya’s and chutney to the table, all with big, beautiful smiles on their faces.  The food is always exceptionally delicious.!

Finally, having a book of my favourite recipes is like having a little bit of India and Sandhya in my kitchen.

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Sandhya’s place, Mysore, India

I spent the whole day saturating myself in reading through and marking all the recipes I would make.  Just what I needed to be, inspired again in the kitchen.  This is what I made today.

I used mung beans, which I soaked but did not sprout, as I was too impatient to try this first recipe.  The cooking time was slightly longer because of this, and I added the cabbage and the ground paste ingredients after simmering the mung beans for 20 minutes.  I also added a handful of frozen peas.  I only used half a chilli, giving the dish a hint of spice.  Perfect!!  You can easily omit the urad and chana dal if you don’t have them.

cabbage, green peas & sprouted mung bean curry

serves 4

ingredients

250g green peas or mung bean sprouts (or a combination of both)

500g cabbage, chopped

500mL water

1 tsp fine rock salt

ground paste

1 green chilli

1 cup coconut, grated

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1-inch knob ginger root, grated

1 Tblsp coriander leaves, chopped

voggarane

2 Tbsp oil/ghee

1 Tbsp mustard seeds

1 Tbsp split urad dal

1 Tbsp split channa dal

8 curry leaves

⅛ tsp asafoetida powder

prepare the ground paste

  1. Grind the five ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

prepare the voggarane

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over low heat and add the black mustard seeds. When they start to splutter and pop, add the urad and channa dals. Fry until both dals turn golden brown. Add curry leaves and asafoetida, and fry for a few seconds.
  2. Add the green peas or mung bean sprouts, stir to combine in the spices, then add the chopped cabbage and ground paste and fry for a few more seconds.
  3. Pour in the water, add salt, bring to a boil and mix well, then lower the heat, cover with the lid and cook for 10~20 minutes, or until the cabbage becomes soft and the gravy has thickened.

to serve

Serve with brown basmati rice, a green garden salad, and roasted sweet potato.

Cut two sweet potatoes into small cubes, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with cumin and cayenne pepper, bake until soft, and then add them to the salad when cool. So delicious!!! The sweet potato cubes go especially well, forming the perfect marriage with the greenness of the curry.

Goodness shared from Stacey