CABBAGE SABJI
CABBAGE SABJI AND A LESSON IN EMOTIONAL EATING.
Curry recipes like this cabbage sabji can be used to address darker emotions as well as being delicious. Watch the video recipe for tips and benefits of knowing how to use spices to feed ourselves well, while addressing our emotions. For this strictly here for the food, this is a traditional regional South Indian use of black mustard seed in a simple cabbage curry. I love this kind of sabji at lunchtime with poori and pickle.
Learn how to use spice to address emotional eating >
RECIPE DETAILS
Serves: 4 as a small side dish
Cooking time: 30 minutes (including 5 minutes prep time).
Dietary Style: Gluten Free. Dairy Free. Vegetarian. Vegan.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 head of cabbage, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp fine white lake salt
- 1/3 tsp fine white sea salt
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tsp black mustard seed
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
METHOD
How to make our cabbage sabji with chilli and black mustard seeds.
STEP 1
In a large frying pan, apply the mustard oil and all of the masala at once. Heat on a medium-high heat until popping and aromatic. Taste it at that point—it will be salty, hot, driving and striking. Toss in the cabbage and then cook down for around 15 to 20 minutes on a low heat until it’s soft and redolent of masala.
STEP 2
A note on salts: if you can’t access a white lake salt, then use 1 tsp of a fine white sea salt, and then a 1/3 tsp of a flaked salt or fleur de sel.
LEARN MORE ABOUT
EMOTIONAL EATING
Is emotional eating bad for you?
Emotional eating is a normal human behaviour. Using spices well can teach us to use our emotional eating to help express our feelings, balance our internal states, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
What do you mean by “emotional eating”?
In my classes, we talk about emotional eating as a normal practice, in that we all do it most of the time. We eat to celebrate. To feel better. To commiserate. To remember. And sometimes we eat to forget.
Are there foods I shouldn’t eat?
Other than the obvious things like highly processed foods, or foods that are very high in sugars and processed fats, most foods are on the table when it comes to eating well. The most important part is to listen to how you feel after eating. If you feel gassy after eating cauliflower, try the same dish with sweet potato. If meat feels to heavy but you crave protein, go for fish.
Do you have tips for good ways to eat emotionally?
Choose whole foods. Know why it is that you are eating, and learn ways to identify how different foods affect your physical and emotional state. Don’t beat yourself up if you feel you got it wrong. Remember the 80-20 rule—perfection is a stressor. As long as you treat yourself well most of the time, a little bit of sliding doesn’t hurt.
KITCHEN HACKS
