Did I ever tell you that cabbage is one of my most favorite vegetables?! I can see a lot of you turning your nose up at this 😀 I know cabbage has a strong smell and people usually dislike it for that but again, I like the smell of the cabbage too! Growing up, cabbage stir fry was something Amma used to make atleast once a week, with few variations every now and then. To date, her recipe of the simple cabbage stir fry is my favorite. I remember this one night while Amma was setting up our dinner table, our neighbor came home. Cabbage stir fry was on the menu that night and our neighbor aunty was so impressed by it that she had a cup full of it just like that! That’s how good my Amma’s cabbage stir fry turns out 🙂
And then I remember this funny incident from when we were planning our wedding. Our food caterer gave us the list containing the food items for the D-day and there I saw it – National Poriyal. I was so intrigued by this name. I didn’t know there was a National dish to our country as such. And then he enlightened me about this recipe that makes it every wedding meal in Tamilnadu – Tricolor Poriyal/Stir-fry.  It is essentially the cabbage stir-fry with the addition of carrots and French beans. The name really is derived from the flag of India that has orange, white and green just as this stir-fry with carrot, cabbage and French beans 🙂 So, we had it for our wedding meal too and ever since, I make it regularly at home! It is so tasty that I sometimes have it as it is, as a salad. This goes really well with Sambar or Rasam or even with curd rice.
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To make Cabbage Carrot Beans Poriyal | Tamilnadu Style Tricolor Stir-Fry Recipe
What I used –
- Cabbage Finely Chopped, 1 cup
- Carrot Finely Chopped, ½ cup
- French Beans Finely Chopped, ½ cup
- Fresh Grated Coconut, ¼ cup
- Green Chillies, 1-2
- Dried Red Chilli, 1
- Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp
- Cumin Seeds, ½ tsp
- Urad Dal, ½ tsp
- Asafoetida, a generous pinch
- Curry Leaves, a few
- Oil, 2 tsp
- Salt, as needed
How I made –
- In a thick bottomed pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds/jeera, dried red chilli (torn in half) and urad dal. As mustard and cumin seeds begin to splutter, add a generous pinch of asafoetida and washed curry leaves. Let them fry for 10 secs. Add chopped green chillies and fry for 20-30 secs.
- Add finely chopped cabbage, carrot and French beans. Stir fry for a couple of minutes on medium flame. Add salt required for the vegetables. Keep the pan covered and cook on low flame for 7-10 mins.
- In few minutes, the vegetables would leave enough water which is enough to cook them through. Keep stirring every few minutes until all the vegetables are cooked. It can take 10-12 mins. Add grated coconut and stir fry for a minute. Remove from heat.
- Serve hot as a side with rice and sambar/rasam/curd.
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Note –
- If the vegetables are chopped up beforehand, preparing this takes less than 30 mins.
- Chop cabbage, carrot and French beans finely and as evenly as possible to ensure even cooking.
- Using heavy bottom pan helps the stir fry from charring/burning at the bottom.
- Adding salt required for the vegetables at the very beginning helps in sweating the vegetables so no additional water is needed to be added later.
- It is essential to cook this covered and on low flame. Otherwise, a few sprinkles of water can be added to the vegetable if it is too dried out.
- To grate the coconut, break it open using a heavy knife/rod. Cut coconut into chunks and grind in a blender until powdered evenly. This can be stored in an air tight freezer safe container and used on need basis.
- Adjust the number of green chillies as per spice preference. The heat for this recipe comes up from the chillies – rather than being too spicy, it is comforting to have this stir-fry.
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Taking this to Fiesta Friday #128!
srividhya
I cannot turn up my nose against cabbage. I love it... Its my favorite veggie too. (Thanks to my mom, she pretty much made all the veggies my favorite). Love this simple poriyal. Infact today’s dinner was murungai kai sambar and cabbage poriyal. Here I am commenting right away as soon as I saw the post. 🙂
chcooks
Aww murungaikai sambar and cabbage poriyal is a match made in heaven! Wish you could send me some right away 🙂
Nish Kitchen
I really do love cabbage. And a meal is incomplete without a great stir fry. This looks delicious!!
chcooks
Haha glad I am not the only one 🙂 Thanks Rose!
Angie | Fiesta Friday
Nice! I have to admit I'm not very creative when it comes to cooking cabbage. This recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday! 🙂
chcooks
Thanks Angie.. glad you liked it! This isn't very creative, something my mom always makes 🙂
Jhuls
I love cabbage and this looks good! 🙂 Happy FF! x
chcooks
Thanks Jhuls 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart
I love cabbage but have never put it in stir fry! That sounds delicious and your photos are mouthwatering!
chcooks
Thanks Julie! Glad you liked this 🙂
chefjulianna
MMMM, I love cabbage too! I eat it all the time in so many salads! I love the look and sound of your dish and can't wait to make it! Thanks so much for sharing this with us! 😀
chcooks
I am so glad you liked my recipe 🙂 Thanks much for dropping by!
krystalbrownblog
This looks quite tasty. I have got to try this. Cabbage is so good for you...I especially like it with something spicy! For some weird reason, whenever I think of cabbage, I think of rice. If anyone is looking for a quick and easy way to make brown rice in the microwave, check out my blog post: https://krystalbrownblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/how-to-microwave-brown-rice/
chcooks
Thanks for dropping by Krystal 🙂 Will check out your post!
Lynz Real Cooking
I really like cabbage and this looks very tasty!
chcooks
It really is great to taste, Lynn 🙂 Thanks!
Suchitra
I love cabbage . We make the same thing, but call it upkari. It is a great side-dish!
chcooks
Thanks Suchitra 🙂