Laughably Cheap Carrot and Fresh Cabbage Curry

This hilariously cheap and laughably easy recipe was a great antidote for us after a huge, meat-heavy meal the prior day. It's stunningly flavorful, vegan-friendly, and--like almost all of the recipes here at Casual Kitchen--so inexpensive to make that it just makes you laugh out loud. Once again, I simply can't understand how anyone can still hold the ludicrous view that healthy and delicious food has to be expensive.

This dish can be made in about 30 minutes for as little as 50c a serving, putting it at perhaps the top of the list of Casual Kitchen's all-time laughably cheap recipes. Best of all, a recipe like this contains healthy and nutritious ingredients that can be purchased inexpensively practically all year round. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.


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Carrot and Fresh Cabbage Curry
(heavily modified from Healthy Home Recipes)

Ingredients:
2 onions, chopped coarsely
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 small head of cabbage (or 1/2 a large head), cored and chopped
5 medium to large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds

1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1) In a large, deep pan with a lid, saute the chopped onions in the oil on medium-high heat until they begin to soften. Add mustard seeds and saute for 2-3 more minutes.

2) Add carrots, cumin, coriander and turmeric and combine. Cover pan and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Add the cabbage, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, salt and the 1/2 cup water. Stir and combine well, cover, and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir well again, cover and simmer for another 8 more minutes, or until cabbage and carrots are cooked to your liking, stirring occasionally to make sure spices don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Serve over rice or brown rice.

Serves 6.
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Recipe Notes:
1) Use a big pot: Keep in mind that the cabbage will cook down as it softens, but you'll need to use a pretty good-sized pot to hold everything at first.

2) Possible modifications: As with any recipe here at CK, you can feel free to modify this recipe and share your ideas in the comments. A few possibilities:

a) (Vegetarians, cover your eyes!) You could add a mild meat such as chicken or ground turkey.
b) You could tinker with the spices. Try adjusting the heat by either reducing or increasing the cayenne pepper.
c) Consider adding a non-meat protein source: beans and/or firm tofu could work.

What other modification ideas can you come up with?

3) Thoughts on workflow for this recipe: For readers who are extremely quick at chopping and cutting up veggies, the most time-efficient way to prep for this dish is to chop the onions first, and while they are sauteing, peel and chop the carrots. While the carrots are cooking, you can chop the cabbage. A screamingly efficient cook could theoretically make this recipe in under 25 minutes.

However, if you don't think you can manage sauteing and doing prep work at the same time (heck, coring and hacking up an entire cabbage head in under five minutes would be ambitious even for me), feel free to do all the prep work in advance before beginning to cook.

Related Posts:
Curried Corn
Lemon Roasted Cabbage
Five Laughably Easy Timesaving Tips in the Kitchen
Garlic Sauteed Cauliflower
Hilariously Easy Chicken Soup
The 25 Best Laughably Cheap Recipes at Casual Kitchen







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