Sometimes one meets really interesting people during travel. One such person from my trip to Odisha in January, is Trilochan Sahoo who operates an auto rickshaw in the Old Town area of Bhubaneswar. Apart from driving me to the places I wanted to visit and serving as a very knowledgeable guide of temple architecture and local customs, Trilochan shared with me his recipe for Odia Cabbage Potato Peas curry a.k.a. Bandha Kobi Torkari. He also helped me to pick out a large purple cabbage from a wayside stall and negotiated prices with the vendor. Back, at Bangalore, I used the cabbage in this refreshing and delicious curry.

Red cabbage strips cooked with baby potatoes and green peas cooked with mild spices, in a blue bowl brown on the outside. A book on Indian emperor ashoka behind the bowl, all on a brown wooden background — Cabbage Potato Peas curry from Odisha cuisine

I like the taste and flavour of purple cabbage and it is an integral part of my usual vegetable salad. I haven't had it cooked,before though. Green cabbage usually goes into a cabbage kootu with potato and peas, or else a dry curry sauteed with just jeera seeds, turmeric, green chili and salt. The Odia Cabbage potato peas curry is rather different from my usual fare and I enjoyed it with rice and rasam as well as with phulka.

Making Odia Cabbage Potato Peas Curry

Trilochan, who gave me this recipe, suggested baby potatoes be used instead of large potatoes in the bandha kobi torkari.

The curry is also made with green cabbage instead of purple/ red, though there would be some difference in texture and taste.

The recipe normally includes carrots, which I have omitted because I'm not fond of cooked carrot.

As in the instructions, and as Trilochan cautioned me, the cardamom and clove powders are to be added at the end and the pan immediately taken off the heat, without allowing the spices to 'cook' further.

When adding salt to the curry, keep in mind that the volume of cabbage will reduce drastically. I recommend adding half the salt you usually would, at first, and after the vegetables have cooked, check and add more if required.

If cooking with green cabbage, increase the volume of onion as per the recipe ingredients below (again an instruction from Trilochan!)

About Purple/ Red Cabbage:

This cabbage belongs to the same plant family as kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts and like them, is packed with nutrients. It may be added raw as in salads or coleslaw, or else cooked in stew and curries.

This article from Healthline gives an interesting list of the nutrient benefits and disease fighting properties of the purple or red cabbage as it is sometimes known.

Other Recipes You May Like From This Blog

Traditional Odia Vegetable Besara In Mustard Paste

Vegetable Besara of mixed vegetables in mustard paste from Odisha's cuisine

Colourful Rainbow Salad with Tomatoes, Purple Cabbage, Sweet Peppers, Broccoli

Rainbow salad with red nasturtium, chopped sweet peppers, tomato and other vegetables and greens in a yellow white and black striped bowl — Rainbow Fresh Vegetable Salad

Cabbage Kootu/ South Indian Cabbage Stew with Coconut Paste

Greenish yellow cabbage stew with a tempering of mustard, chili and cumin and garnish of coriander leaves. On a white background with a green striped white napkin on the side — Simple nutritious cabbage kootu/ stew with coconut paste

"Recipe"

A blue bowl with orange red Odia Cabbage Potato Peas Curry, on pale brown background

Odia Cabbage Potato Peas Curry/ Bandha Kobi Torkari

Sujata Shukla

Easy Odia style tarkari of Purple (red) Cabbage, baby potatoes, fresh peas cooked into a flavourful curry with just a few spices. Goes well with Odia khichori/ khichidi or with phulka, rice and dal

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Eastern India, Indian, Odia, Odisha

Servings cups

Ingredients

For The Masala

1 cup Onion Heaped cup; 150 gms/ 2 cups if Green cabbage is used instead of red
5 cloves Garlic /2 heaped tablespoon
10 gms Ginger 2" length/1 heaped tablespoon
2 teaspoons mustard oil/ vegetable oil

For The Cabbage Potato Peas Curry/ Bandha Kobi Torkari

3 cups Purple Cabbage / Green Cabbage Bandha Kobi/ Kobi Patra; 250 gm
1.5 cups Baby Potatoes with the peel on/ 200 gms or peeled sliced large potato
1 cup Tomato heaped cup; sliced; 180 gms; 2 medium tomato
1 cup gms Green Peas shelled/ 150 gms
½ cup carrot 1 medium carrot
2 tablespoons Mustard Oil / Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds only if mustard oil is not used
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds jeera
1 Dry Red Chili
1 Bay Leaf Tej Patta
1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder haldi
½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ghee optional, see instructions below
2 Large Cardamom or small green cardamom - 6
2 cm Cinnamon Stick

Instructions

Preparation

Wash and slice Purple/ red cabbage leaves into thin lengths of about 1" each. Set aside in a colander to drain completely. Wash and dice the tomato into 1 cm cubes. Shell the peas.
Peel and slice ginger, onion and garlic into small pieces which be easily ground into paste.
Wash and scrub the baby potatoes. Peel can be removed if you wish. If using large potatoes, peel and slice into 1" cubes and place in water till required.
Peel and slice the carrot into thin 1" length sticks.
Crush the cardamom seeds well. Discard the peel, or as I do, add it to your drinking water. Break cinnamon stick into pieces.

To Make The Masala

Roast onion, garlic and ginger slices in a little oil. Remove after draining the oil, and process into a paste in the food processor/ mixie or on a grinding stone. Set aside in a bowl till required.

To Make Bandha Kobi Torkari / Odia Cabbage Potato Peas Curry

Heat a pan large enough to take all the vegetables, and add oil. If not using mustard oil, when the oil is hot add mustard seeds and saute till they burst.
Keeping the pan on low/ medium heat, add cumin/ jeera seeds, saute till they being to darken (about 10 secs)
Break the dry red chili into two and add. Saute, turning it so that both sides are fried. (about 10 secs). Add the bay leaf/ tej patta.
Add the masala paste earlier prepared (onion, garlic, ginger). Saute till the oil begins to leave the sides and the masala begins to darken in colour (about 2 minutes).
Add tomato slices, saute for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add potatoes, stir well till they are all covered in oil. Add carrot slices. Stir.
Add cabbage slices and shelled peas. Add turmeric powder and salt. Be cautious with the salt as the cabbage will shrink in volume. You can check and add more if required at the end. Stir well.
Add half the water in ingredients list (½ cup) stir and cook (covered) till the vegetables are cooked. Stir the curry frequently as the cabbage and masala may catch at the bottom of the pan and burn. Add another ½ cup water if it is too dry and the potatoes and cabbage are yet to cook.
Once the vegetables are cooked, check for adequacy of salt, adding a little more if required. Stir and cook for 2 minutes on low flame.
Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of ghee separately, add cardamom powder and cinnamon pieces, pour over the curry and remove from heat immediately.
Serve hot with khichidi/ khichodi, or rice and dal/ dalma or with roti.