Sambharo, Gujarati Warm Cabbage and Carrot Salad
Sambharo is Gujarat's warm cabbage salad, the thing that lands on the plate next to fafda and jalebi at breakfast or beside a simple dal at home. It is barely cooked: the mustard seeds pop, the curry leaves crackle, and the cabbage hits a hot pan just long enough to warm through and take the turmeric before the lime goes on and stops it. Cook it any longer and you lose the point, which is crunch. It comes together in the time the mustard takes to jump, and it is coconut-free without trying.
Ingredients
- 4 cups green cabbage, shredded thin
- 1 cup Carrots, julienned
- 1 tsp Brown mustard seed
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 2 wholes Indian green chile, slit
- 10 leafs Curry leaves
- 1 pinch Asafoetida
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Method
- Warm a wide dry pan over medium-high heat and add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop and jump, about 30 seconds. Popping the seeds dry is the tempering, and it is the whole flavor base of a sambharo.
- Add the curry leaves, asafoetida, and slit green chiles and stir for 10 seconds until the leaves crackle. Move fast: asafoetida scorches in a hot dry pan in seconds.
- Add the cabbage and carrot with the turmeric and toss over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, no longer. Sambharo is a warm salad, not a stew: the cabbage should wilt slightly at the edges but keep its crunch.
- Pull the pan off the heat and squeeze over the lime. The acid stands in for salt and stops the cooking. Scatter with cilantro and serve warm alongside a meal or with khichdi.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 55 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g fiber, 20 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
