For my third instalment of Vogue’s ‘vegetable of the year’, I come to you with a hispi cabbage soup. On paper, cabbage soup doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but this one is deeply flavourful and comforting.
Hispi cabbage is the perfect cababge for soup. When cooked down, it’s slightly sweet and lends itself well to plenty of spice. Topped with cumin-spiced crispy onions and, if you like, a dollop of creamy Greek yoghurt.
DAL-STYLE HISPI CABBAGE SOUP
This cabbage soup number, using hispi cabbage, coconut milk, crispy onions, a tempering oil. Dal-inspired, I guess! It's really, really good.
Ingredients
- 200 g red lentils
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 onion very finely chopped
- 1 thumb-sized chunk ginger grated
- 3 garlic cloves grated
- 1 red chilli seeds removed & finely sliced
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 800 ml vegetable stock
- 400 g tin finely chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml tin coconut milk
- 1 small hispi cabbage hard stem removed & very finely sliced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- to serve: thick yoghurt fresh coriander
Crispy Onions
- 1 onion sliced into very fine rounds
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- neutral oil for frying
Tempering oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp dried curry leaves
Instructions
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Soak the lentils in water for 30 minutes before starting the recipe, to help them cook more evenly.
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Heat a really good glug of oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt and fry for 8-10 minutes, until turning translucent. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for another minute or so, just to soften.
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Stir the turmeric and lentils into the pan, until the turmeric releases its fragrance. Then add the stock, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk and a good pinch of salt. Bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
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Next, add the hispi cabbage to the pan, bring everything back to a simmer and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender and the lentils have started to break down. Remove the pan from the heat, stir through the garam masala and lemon juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
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Meanwhile, you can make the crispy onions. Combine the onion rounds, cornflour, ground cumin and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl and stir well to coat. Heat roughly an inch of your neutral oil in a medium pan set over a medium heat. Once hot, fry the onion in two batches, until golden and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil and onto a few sheets of kitchen towel, to soak up any excess grease.
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Finally, you can make the tempering oil. Warm the vegetable oil in a small pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and curry leaves and cook for 30 seconds, until the spices are beginning to toast. Remove from heat (the spices will continue to toast in the residual heat, so don’t wait until they have fully browned).
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Divide the soup between bowls and top with a spoonful of thick yoghurt, the tempering oil, the crispy onions and a little fresh coriander, if you like.
If you’re enjoying my third cabbage themed video and haven’t seen the first two recipes, you can find my January King Gratin recipe here, or my Brown Butter Hispi Cabbage Salad here. Or, if you want more recipe inspiration, check out my Instagram.
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