Spicy cabbage kebabs/ fritters

I have no idea who thought up this brilliant recipe that was passed down through the generations, but it’s probably the most exciting way, I’ve found, to eat cabbage! If you’re Gujarati, you’ll also know these better as cabbage “moothia” – I may be wrong, but I think this term originated from the fact that you form the kebabs/ fritters in the palm of your hand and recalling the words of my granny, when she said to add a “mooth” of something, it meant a “handful” of something. This is a great accompaniment to lentil curries, but can also be wrapped in a roti with some lettuce or placed in a bun spread with lots of butter! You can also use either the red or white varieties of cabbage – they both work well!

These kebabs/ fritters were made with red cabbage which was shredded by hand

Ingredients

• 3 cups very finely shredded cabbage (white/red)
• 1 grated carrot
• 1 handful of freshly chopped coriander
• juice of ½ a lemon
• a handful of sesame seeds
• Himalayan pink salt to taste
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dhana jeeroo (coriander and cumin powder mix)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground green chillies
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground garlic
• 2 Tbsp chana/ chickpea flour
• 2 Tbsp rice flour
• 2 Tbsp wheat flour (optional)
• 2 Tbsp semolina (optional)
• 2 Tbsp mealie meal
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Water as required
• Coconut oil to fry

These kebabs/fritters were made with white cabbage which was shredded in a food processor

Method

1. Combine cabbage, carrot, coriander, lemon juice and sesame seeds in a bowl. If you’d like to speed things up, you can also just roughly chop the cabbage, carrot and coriander and add to a food processor – the mixture will come out very fine. I prefer to shred the cabbage by hand and grate the carrot as this imparts a different flavoured compared to the very fine mixture you get out of the food processor.
2. Add salt, turmeric, dhana jeeroo, red chilli powder, green chillies, ginger and garlic to the cabbage mixture.
3. Sift chickpea flour, rice flour, wheat flour, semolina, mealie meal and baking soda. Then add to the cabbage mixture. For a gluten-free version, omit the wheat flour and semolina and make up the volumes with chickpea, rice and corn flours.
4. Mix well and add just enough water to form balls with the mixture.
5. Using your hands, form oval-shapes and place them into a frying pan with oil, on medium heat.
6. Cover with a lid and shallow fry on one side for about 2 minutes. When the kebabs/fritters look sort of steamed on the top, turn them over and fry for about 2 more minutes on the other side. You can switch the stove to a very low heat and leave the lid open if you’d like – this will allow the kebabs/fritters to get crispy on the outside.