Cabbage Chutney

Necessity is always the mother of invention. I had a little bit of cabbage slowly getting to the point of going bad and I wanted to put it to some use. We were having idlis that particular night and I thought - why not make a chutney with it along with some familiar flavors of tomato and onion? So, that's what I did. And the chutney came out pretty well. It tasted slightly sweet, with hints of cabbage and ginger flavor. I recommend the chutney if you like cabbage.

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 head of a medium-large cabbage, chopped or shredded (about 3 cups)
2. 1 onion, chopped
3. 2 tomatoes, chopped
4. 1 teaspoon minced ginger
5. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
6. 2 tablespoons split urad dhal / dehusked split black gram 
7. 2-3 dry red chillies
8. 2 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
9. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
10. 1.5 teaspoons salt, or as needed

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add urad dhal, turmeric, red chillies and hing. Saute on medium heat until urad dhal begins to change color slightly.
2. Add ginger and onions and saute until translucent. 
3. Add tomatoes and cook along with salt until they become soft and mushy.
4. Finally add cabbage and cook on low-medium heat until cabbage is fully cooked.
5. When cooked, remove from heat and cool. When cool, grind to a thick paste by sprinkling no more than 1/4 cup of water or as needed depending on the blender.

Serve chutney with dosas, idlis or rotis. You can even mix this with rice with a little bit of sesame oil or ghee.