Cabbage Thoran

Cabbage Thoran is a quintessential of Onam Sadhya, a traditional vegetarian feast of Kerala. Chopped cabbage is stir fried & steamed with tempering spices, lastly finished with raw grated coconut. Curry leaves, mustard seeds, chilies and garlic infuse the dish with traditional South Indian flavors. Coconut imparts nutty aroma and adds a great texture to this Cabbage Thoran.

It is eaten with steamed rice but also goes well with chapati/roti. If you are a veggie lover, enjoy it straight from a bowl without any accompaniment.

Thoran also known as upperi in some parts of Kerala, is a dry dish consisting of vegetables, raw coconut and only a few spices. It is a basic dish that can be made with many different vegetables like cabbage, carrots, beans, beets, yam, plantain and even leafy greens like spinach.

While raw coconut meat and spices remain standard, you can use your favorite veggie, or a combination of different vegetables, or even a mix of vegetables and leafy greens.

For a complete South Indian meal, serve this Cabbage Thoran with steamed rice, Rasam or Sambar or Kadala Curry. A pickle or chutney/ chammanthi and papads will add an exciting touch to your meal.

Traditionally, chopped cabbage is mixed with crushed shallots, garlic, coconut, cumin, salt, turmeric and fresh curry leaves. This is then steamed and cooked until tender. However I make this in a different way because my coconut is already fine grated and crushing that further makes it like a paste and releases more moisture.

Here is what you need for this recipe.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Cabbage: Use young head of cabbage that is firm and crisp, rather than soft & spongy cabbage. More mature veggie is going to take longer to cook, sometimes requires water to cook and can easily produce a sulphur like smell. You may substitute cabbage with cauliflower, broccoli, beans, beets or carrots.
• Raw Coconut: Fresh or frozen raw coconut meat is the key ingredient in a thoran and a dish without this is not called a thoran. So there is no substitute to this. However you can still make this dish and it still tastes fantastic. But call it Indian cabbage and not a Kerala thoran.
• Coconut Oil is another important ingredient used in Kerala Cuisine.
• Spices like mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ground turmeric, ginger, garlic, dried red chilies and green chilies are essential for an aromatic tempering.
• Fresh Curry leaves infuse the dish with a magical herby flavor.
• Shallots: Traditionally a lot of Kerala dishes are made with shallots and this one is no exception but feel free to use smaller variety of yellow, brown or red onions. Avoid large red onions.

Photo Guide

How to make Cabbage Thoran (stepwise photos)

Preparation

1. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage head and rinse well under running water. I started with 450 grams (1 pound) of whole cabbage and got about 4 cups (fine chopped) that weighed 400 grams. If you are using more or less cabbage than mentioned in my recipe, adjust all the ingredients accordingly else the flavors won’t be the same.

Cut the cabbage to 2 portions and remove the core to discard. Place each portion on a chopping board and make thin slices. Remove to discard any hard or fibrous parts.

2. Chop as fine as possible. If you want you may use a chopper or a food processor for this purpose.

3. Gather the following ingredients

• ¾ cup (90 grams) fine grated raw coconut (fresh or thawed if frozen)
• Rinse 1 sprig curry leaves and pat dry (about 12 leaves)
• Chop or slit 1 green chili (deseed if you prefer, use more for extra heat)
• Fine chop 2 medium garlic cloves to make ½ tablespoon (8 grams) 
• Optionally peel and fine chop ½ inch ginger to make 1 teaspoon (6 grams)
• Fine chop or slice 1 small onion or 3 shallots to make ⅓ cup (50 grams)
• 1 dried red chili (broken & deseeded if preferred)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (optional, crushed coarsely)
• ¼ teaspoon organic turmeric (more if you want)
• ⅓ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)

Make the Thoran

4. On a medium flame, heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds & dried red chilies. When the seeds begin to pop, add onions/shallots and curry leaves.

5. Saute for 3 mins until the onions become transparent. Stir in crushed cumin, ginger, garlic & green chilies.

6. Immediately add the cabbage, turmeric and salt.

7. Stir fry on a medium heat for 4 to 5 mins, until slightly tender yet crunchy. Adjust the timing depending on your cabbage. Mine takes no more than 5 mins. Avoid overcooking the cabbage as it can produce a sulphur like smell. (Traditionally it is covered and steam cooked on a low to medium heat but I prefer to stir fry here).

8. Stir in the coconut and cook until heated through, for 2 to 3 mins.

9. Overcooking at this stage can make your cabbage thoran too soft and mushy, due to the moisture in coconut. Taste test and adjust salt to preference. If you want to increase the heat levels, add some freshly cracked black pepper.

Serve Cabbage Thoran with hot steamed rice alongside dal, Sambar, Rasam or with chapati.

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