Vegan Cabbage Curry made in a slow cooker. Effortless curry recipe made with easy spices. This is a hearty Indian cabbage curry recipe with potatoes and peas in it.
Being Indian, we make a lot of curries!
And, by a lot, I mean, a loooooot!
I love curries of all kinds and I cannot lie!
Today, I am bringing you a childhood favorite.
Tips for cooking this curry in the slow cooker
1) Cut the cabbage julienne style and thin
I have always found cabbage to be hard to cook no matter what gadget I am using to cook it. It takes so long to cook it because it’s dense and thick. Water and steam take a long time to permeate the cabbage cells.
I have even more tips and tricks for working with cabbage: How to Cut Cabbage
So, one trick I have learned is that the smaller I make the surface area, they faster the cabbage will cook. You don’t want to know how many cabbages I had to cook before I came to that conclusion!
2) Pre-soak chopped cabbage for 20 minutes before adding to the slow cooker
This is also a trick I learned after years of trying to cook cabbage perfectly. I found that pre-soaking the chopped cabbage while I assemble the other ingredients, helps soften the cabbage and make it cook faster.
In warm water, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Then, add the julienned cabbage to it and stir with a wooden spoon. Set it aside while you chop and assemble other ingredients
The cabbage practically melts in your mouth because of this trick
3) Remember to wash the cabbage
I have been soooo guilty of not doing this too. I will chop cabbage and just start cooking it. The funny thing is has grooves and cracks where dirt tends to nestle itself. It’s funny how we all forget that fun fact.
What I like to do is chop it and place it in a (affiliate link) nylon sieve or (affiliate link) colander . Then, I place it under cold water and I make sure all the cabbage is cleaned. After that, I follow tip #2 above
What to serve with it?
Serve this cabbage curry with
– Brown rice
– Naan
– Roti
Can you make it stove top?
Curries have always been made stove top or open flames. As new gadgets came into existence, curry recipes were adapted for those devices.
I have loved trying to figure out how to cook cabbage in a pressure cooker because it cooks it evenly and quickly. I have a recipe coming soon where the cabbage and pressure cooker are going to produce an amazing recipe.
Stay tuned.
Can you freeze it?
Yes, you can. But, I find it is much easier to freeze individual portions of the curry. This way, it’s so much easier to thaw it.
My preference is to put it in meal prep containers with rice and refrigerate it (not freeze it). This way, it retains its flavors, especially the spices. When I freeze it, I find that it doesn’t always retain the flavors.
More curry recipes
– My favorite accomplishment as far as testing new curry recipes is this watermelon curry. It was a Rajasthani take on curries and it remains my all-time favorite experiment. You have to try it to see what I am talking about.
– A curry that I make often is my sweet potato curry. It does use a few exotic spices, but, they are all worth it.
– You have never had corn on the cob this way. I put corn on the cob in a creamy coconut curry and it was DELICIOUS! Try it today and let me know what you think!
Check out all my other curry recipes and tell me YOUR favorite.
How to make cabbage curry
1) Chop the cabbage in julienne style and make sure they are thin.
2) Wash them and then place them in a bowl with warm water. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and stir. Set it aside.
3) Chop the veggies and other ingredients
4) Set your slow cooker to high and wait for 1 minute before adding the oil
5) Add 1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds
6) Add the crushed ginger and garlic to the oil
7) After 30 seconds, add the red onions and stir. Let them brown
8) Add the red chili powder and turmeric to an empty spot at the bottom of the slow cooker.
9) Wait for about 30 seconds before stirring. The heat activates the flavors of the spices.
10) Drain the cabbage completely and towel dry it lightly before adding it to the slow cooker
11) Add the chopped potatoes on top of the cabbage
12) Chop the tomato in a mini food processor. Chop it as finely as you can
13) Add the tomato sauce to the food processor
14) Add 1 cup of water and mix well. Close the lid and let it cook on high.
15) When the cabbage was about half its size, I opened the lid and started to add the spices. This is a personal choice, so, you don’t have to do it the same way. You can add the spices at the beginning. I started by adding 2 tsp of salt
16) Add the cumin + coriander powder. You can find it in your local Indian store or get it from (affiliate link) Amazon.
17) Add the garam masala which can also be gotten from (affiliate link) Amazon or your local Indian grocery store.
18) Mix well and close the lid. Cook it on high for another 2 hours, but, be sure to stir often.
19) After these 2 hours, add the peas to the slow cooker. If you are using frozen peas, do not thaw it. Let the slow cooker do the work for you.
20) Cook it for another half hour on low and it should be ready after that.
If you like slow cooker recipes, try making an easy bean chili in it.
Slow Cooker Cabbage Curry
Ingredients
- 1½ Tbsp vegetable oil Sub with coconut oil
- ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- ¼ cup red onions finely diced
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 3 Lbs cabbage small whole cabbage, see notes
- 2 russet potatoes peeled, chopped
- 2 plum tomatoes chopped in food processor
- ⅔ cup tomato sauce unsalted
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp coriander cumin powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 cup peas Do not thaw
Instructions
- See notes on how to work with the cabbage
- Set your slow cooker to high and wait for 1 minute before adding the oil
- Add fenugreek seeds and wait for them to brown (about 30 seconds)
- Add the crushed ginger and garlic to the oil
- After 30 seconds, add the red onions and stir. Let them brown
- Add the red chili powder and turmeric in an empty spot at the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Wait for about 30 seconds before stirring
- Drain the cabbage completely and towel dry it lightly before adding to slow cooker
- Add the chopped potatoes on top of the cabbage
- Add the chopped plum tomatoes
- Add the tomato sauce into the slow cooker
- Add water and stir well. Close the lid and let it cook
- When the cabbage is about half its size, add the salt
- Add the cumin + coriander powder
- Add the garam masala
- Mix well and close the lid, cook it for another 2 hours. Stir often
- After these 2 hours, add the peas to the slow cooker
- Cook it for another 30 minutes
- If you are not ready to serve it, keep the slow cooker on “keep warm” settings.
Notes
- Nutrition info is approximate
Hello, Ms. Rini, from Arkansas, USA. So lovely to just have discovered U and your newsletter on line. Due to a cancer event 4 1/2 years ago, I largely eat vegetarian and am continually on the lookout for a healthy crock-pot veggie receipe. (No doubt U know how very healthy cabbage is.) My question: For your cabbage curry, does one leave the crock-pot setting on “high” for the full 5 hours or only initially to fry the garlic, etc? Plzz advise. Thks in advan ce.
Thank you for your comment, Stephen of Arkansas! I am so happy to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your healthy issues, I hope you are in a much better place now. I went back into my cabbage curry post and realized that it was a little confusing, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. Cook it on high for the whole time, except for the last 30 minutes after you add the frozen peas. For that last half hour, cook it on low. Thank you.
My husband and I were just discussing what to eat today and remembered we have a cabbage and other veggies to eat and decided to make a spicy cabbage as the main ingredient instead of an addition to spicey beef. Googled and came across this website and recipe which is exactly how I would have cooked it, can’t wait to get started and can’t wait to eat it once cooked. Happy days…
That sounds like a great idea, Beverly. I think you and your husband will like this recipe. Be sure to come back and let me know how it turns out.
It was delicious my family enjoyed. I’ll be making again. I’m a fan of Indian cuisine because of the vegetarian aspects. Thank you for sharing
Oh, that’s so sweet! Thank you, Peg. I am so happy you liked it.
Most of my childhood memory includes getting yelled at by my mother and eat your veggies; but I used to pay no heed to it. However as time passes, most of us come around to eating vegetables as we are aware of the countless benefits they have for our health.
Cabbage is especially one of the world’s most nutrient dense vegetables readily available for us to enjoy, rich in essential vitamins such as C, B6, K, saturated fat, thiammin, calcium, iron, magnesium phosphorus and a good source of dietary fibers.
But I never liked any cabbage recipe other than in noodles.
This cabbage recipe when I tried at home was not really appreciated by my family but it was really yummy too. Thanks for sharing this delicious preparation.
Thank you, Punam