This simple Cabbage and Potato Curry (Cabbage Masala or Kobi Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday favourite Indian recipe.
It’s a dry-style sabzi with tender white cabbage, soft potatoes and mild spices. Great for anyone who loves the comforts of home cooking.
This cabbage and potato curry is…
- Quick and easy to make
- Great for beginners
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Nut free
This dish pairs perfectly with roti for a wholesome main dish, or as a light vegetable side dish.
I find this is an Indian curry recipe the entire family enjoys. It can be as mild or as spicy as you like.
What is a dry curry?
Dry curry, which is also known as sukha (meaning dry) in Hindi, is a popular Indian dish that is cooked without any water or gravy. Think stir fry.
It is a simple and quick recipe that is perfect for days when you are short on time but still crave for a hearty meal.
The beauty of dry curry lies in the versatility of its ingredients and cooking method. Every region of India has various interpretations of dry curry.
Which vegetables are best to use?
You can use any vegetables or lentils that you have on hand to create your own version of a dry-style curry.
Vegetarian options with protein include Tofu Dopiaza and Kadai Paneer.
Some of the popular vegetables that are used in dry curry are potatoes, cauliflower, peas, okra, carrots and French beans. In reality, you can use anything you like!
You can adjust the amount of spices and heat levels to suit your taste preferences.
If you like your food spicy, then you can add some extra chilli powder to the recipe.
To balance out the flavours, you can also add some lemon juice to the dish, or serve with natural yoghurt.
Other Indian veg side dishes you’ll like
- Mung Bean Curry
- Gujarati Okra and Potatoes
- Paneer Curry
- Stuffed Aubergine Curry
- Tindora and Sweetcorn Curry
What type of cabbage goes well in curry?
Green or white cabbage work best in most curry recipes. These types of cabbages have a white or pale green colour and a round shape with tightly-packed leaves.
Use any cabbage you would use for making coleslaw, salads, and stir-fries.
Savoy cabbage is also fine to use, and great for those who prefer a milder cabbage flavour.
Red cabbage can be a touch too bitter so I don’t recommend using it for this curry.
Around Christmas time, I like to make this curry with Brussel’s Sprouts!
Shred them finely and use in place of cabbage.
Brussel’s Sprouts and Potato Curry is a dish my mum would make all the time when my brother and I were growing up. Delicious with roti.
What can I do with leftover curry?
Since this is a dry-style curry, leftovers really can be delicious in anything! The world is your samosa!
- Samosa – an excellent option for using up leftover curry is to use it as a samosa filling. Try using this recipe as a filling for my Golden Air Fryer Samosas
- Toastie – a toasted sandwich, or ‘toastie’ is a particularly quick and easy option for packing in lots of leftover dry sabzi. Add a slice of cheese for extra deliciousness.
- Fried rice – in a smoking hot wok, toss cold, day-old rice with leftover curry. Stir fry until everything is sizzling hot and coated. Add a dash of sesame oil, chillies and fresh coriander to liven up this leftover wonder
Ingredients you’ll need for Cabbage and Potato Curry
- Cabbage – use any type of fresh cabbage for this dish. White, green and savoy all work
- Potatoes – any floury variety such as Maris Piper or King Edward
- Tomatoes – fresh or tinned (canned) chopped tomatoes both work well
- Ginger – mince fresh ginger into a paste, or use a pre-made ginger paste (frozen or from a jar)
- Mustard seeds – black mustard seeds are the most traditional option, as opposed to yellow
- Cumin seeds – add these once the mustard seeds finish crackling
- Asafoetida – hing or asafoetida is a spice derived from the gum of a tree. It has a strong onion/garlic flavour
- Turmeric – for a beautiful colour
- Chilli powder – I use Kashmiri chilli powder for great colour and mild heat. Use any you like
- Oil – Any flavourless oil is fine
- Salt – any
- Sugar – any, to balance the acidity of the tomatoes
- Coriander – fresh coriander leaves and stalks, finely chopped are an excellent garnish
- Green chillies – if you like your dish spicy, add some fresh green chilli at the end
Up the veg content
Substitute a proportion of potatoes with peas, carrots or cauliflower to turn this into a more veg-heavy meal.
Steps for making Cabbage and Potato Curry
STEP 1: Shred the cabbage and dice the potatoes
Shred the cabbage as finely as you can using either a sharp knife or a mandoline. Remember to remove the tough core. Peel the potatoes (optional) and cut into small cubes.
Don’t cut them too big or they will take a long time to cook.
STEP 2: Cook the spices and aromatics
Temper (sizzle) the spices in hot oil and add the tomatoes. Cook until the oil separates from the tomato and spices. Tempering allows the spices to release their aromas into the curry.
STEP 3: Add the veggies and cook with an ice lid
Cover the pan with a lipped lid or large, heatproof plate. Fill with 5-6 ice cubes or with cold water.
This step creates steam and encourages liquid to fall back into the pot so that the veggies cook in their own juices. Cook over a low heat.
STEP 4: Garnish and serve
Serve the dish with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and chillies. Serve with Roti and plain yoghurt.
How to make Cabbage and Potato Curry | Easy Cabbage Masala recipe
Yield: 4 servings
Cabbage and Potato Curry
This simple Cabbage and Potato Curry (Kobi Bateta nu Shaak) is an everyday favourite Indian recipe. It pairs perfectly with roti for a wholesome main dish, or as a light vegetable side dish. It's a dry-style sabzi with tender white cabbage, soft potatoes and mild spices. I find this is an Indian curry recipe the whole family enjoys. Add a handful of peas to turn it into a more veg-heavy meal.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 400g white or green cabbage
- 1 large or 2 small potatoes (about 300g total)
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 200g chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1/3 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
Optional garnishes
- Sliced green chillies
- Fresh coriander
Instructions
- Finely shred the cabbage using a sharp knife or a mandoline. Wash and allow to drain very well.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.
- Heat the oil in a large, non-stick pan or heavy-based cast iron pan. Once the oil is smoking hot, add the mustard seeds and wait for them to finish crackling. Next, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida. tomatoes, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and sugar. Stir well and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the oil separates from the mixture at the sides of the pan.
- Add the potatoes and cabbage. Stir well to coat the vegetables in the sauce. Cover the pan with a large plate and fill the top with ice cubes or cold water. This will encourage steam to build up inside and the vegetables will cook perfectly in their own juices. Keep the heat over a low-medium. Remove the lid after 10 minutes to give everything a good stir. If the potatoes are still firm, cover once more and continue to cook in the same way for another 5 minutes or so. You will likely need to tip the melted ice water away and replace it with more ice.
- Once the potatoes and cabbage are soft and tender, turn the heat up a little and sauté the curry uncovered for a few minutes to dry it out as much as possible. It's okay if some of the cabbage and potatoes brown a little. This will add flavour.
- Garnish with chopped coriander and green chillies.
Notes
- This recipe works well with any type of cabbage. Savoy cabbage is great when it's in season. Be sure to remove the core from the cabbage and shred it finely so that the cabbage and potatoes cook in roughly the same amount of time.
- Do not add additional water to the curry. This dry-style dish should cook in its own juices, which leads to a tastier dish.
- If you don't have ice cubes. Top the plate with cold water, changing it out every so often so it doesn't become too hot. It's the cool temperature that encourages the steam to build.
- This curry is not suitable for freezing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 231Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 474mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 4g
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If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Gujarati Potato Curry
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With love and Cabbage and Potato Curry,
Sanjana
