Cabbage kootu - This delightful combination of cabbage and chana dal sabzi is a simple and delicious accompaniment to rice and sambar. Make this easy vegetable dish in about 30 minutes using your Instant Pot.
Rinse the chana dal and soak the chana dal in 3/4 cup of water for at least 15 minutes. While it is soaking, chop the onions and the cabbage.
Rinse and drain the chopped cabbage. Set it aside.
Add oil to the steel insert of the Instant Pot and press the Saute function.
Press the Adjust button to move the selection to “low” and wait till the display reads “Hot.”
Add mustard seeds and as they begin to splutter add curry leaves, dried chilies, green chilies, asafoetida, and garlic.
Let it fry for around 20 seconds and then add onions. Fry them till they have softened (approximately 5-6 minutes).
Add turmeric, salt, chana dal along with the water, and mix well.
Deglaze the pot by scraping down the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is stuck.
Add chopped cabbage - do not mix it if you want some texture in your dish.
Cover the lid and pressure cook on high for 8 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, release the pressure immediately.
Add the grated coconut to the cooked cabbage and mix well.
If the amount of water in the dish is more than you desire, turn on the Saute setting in your Instant Pot and set it to low. Cook until the water is absorbed.
Serve hot with steamed rice and curry.
Notes
There are a couple of variations to this recipe. For instance,
To make this dish completely mushy, pressure cook for 10 minutes and add 1 cup of water. Let the pressure release naturally and use the back of the spoon to mush it completely.
Also, there are recipes in which coconut paste made from grated coconut, cumin seeds, green chilies, and rice flour is added to the cooked cabbage and chana dal mixture. An example would be this recipe from Rakskitchen.