Gujarati Potato and Cabbage Curry

This recipe is from Meera Sodha, who wrote the cookbook Made in India.  My son was making a delicious Basmati rice dish and chicken tikka masala, and I wanted to make a complimentary dish.  Despite the quarantine I have potatoes and a massive green cabbage, so made this.  It is quick to cook, easy to prep, and delicious (although watch the chili powder--mine is quite hot, and this dish delivered a punch as a result.

500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
Salt and black pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 pinch fenugreek seeds
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
200g tinned plum tomatoes with their juice (ie, half a tin)
500g white cabbage (ie, half a large one), cored and shredded
1 tsp ground coriander
⅓ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp ground red chili powder
250ml lukewarm water

Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with cold water, add a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, then drain and leave to steam.  While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil over a medium flame. Once it’s very hot, add fenugreek, mustard and cumin seeds and, when they start to crackle, stir in the onion and fry for six minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, cook for two minutes, then add the tomatoes, tipping them in with one hand and crushing them with the other as they hit the pan. Cook until the tomatoes become concentrated and paste-like and the oil floats to the top – about eight to 10 minutes.

Turn up the heat, add the cabbage and stir until well coated in the tomato mixture, then cover the pan and leave to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring infrequently (every couple of minutes, say), so the cabbage caramelizes a little while it softens.  When the cabbage is soft, fold in the potatoes, the ground spices and a teaspoon and a half of salt, and stir gently, so the potatoes don’t break up too much. Add the lukewarm water bit by bit, stirring after each addition, and leave to cook down for five minutes, until the liquid thickens into a sauce. Check and adjust the seasoning, then take off the heat.