Creamy Crispy Curry Cabbage — CCCC. Or 4C. Four C-sons. Don’t let the bad jokes prevent you from trying this delicious side dish — it’s a real delish! Serve it with grass-fed chicken for a full meal, or for a little hunger just like that accompanied with some gluten-free low-carb bread and some fresh veggies. Don’t forget to finish the creamy meal with something creamy too, try for example some instant ice cream, or while you are preparing and eating this dish, let the ice cream maker churn some delicious low-carb strawberry ice cream. Yum!
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| Nutrition information | Protein | Fat | Net carbs | kcal |
| In total: | 6.2 g | 42.3 g | 14.9 g | 465 kcal |
| Per portion if 2 portions in total: | 3.1 g | 21.1 g | 7.5 g | 233 kcal |
| Per portion if 4 portions in total: | 1.6 g | 10.6 g | 3.7 g | 116 kcal |
Tips for making the dish
This Creamy Crispy Curry Cabbage is very quick to prepare. I guess chopping the cabbage is the hardest part. Of course you can use packaged shredded cabbage though it’s good to have the cabbage chopped small enough. Somehow it just suits better this dish.
As the name suggests, the key is to leave the cabbage crispy and crunchy. That’s why the saucepan is removed from the heat immediately after the cabbage is added.
If you use curry powder, there might be a need to add salt depending on how salty you like your food. Also, if you are using curry paste which doesn’t have any added salt, you might want to add some salt. Just taste it first and then you know if it needs salt.
My experiments with the dish
It all started very simple. I sautéd some chopped cabbage in ghee and thought that some curry might fit in. I added some curry powder and liked the result, but something was missing flavor-wise. I added chopped organic red bell pepper and although the color was nice, the bell pepper didn’t give the flavor I was seeking for.
Next I added some chopped organic fresh tomatoes to the ready dish, and the result was nicely fresh, but something was still missing. Something, which would make the flavors more full and rich — tasty, actually.
I thought that onion might be the missing link. I was considering which type of onion to use, and decided to try out spring onion. The result was tasty and delicious.
Originally I was using curry powder, but since I had also some mild curry paste in the fridge, I tried with that too. Personally I like more this dish made with curry paste rather than with curry powder, but that is really a matter of opinion.
First experiments I made without coconut milk, but since I often make curry chicken where I use coconut milk, I wanted to try it out here as well. That was worth trying, the result was rich and creamy. Reduction made the consistency even better as the sauce was otherwise too fluid. Adding the cabbage after reducing the sauce guarantees that the cabbage stays deliciously crispy and crunchy. However, if you are running out of coconut milk it’s not a disaster, this dish is also delicious without it.
Tips for variation
This version of the dish is dairy-free. If you can tolerate dairy, organic ghee instead of coconut oil is also very delicious. Extra virgin olive oil is one of my favorite oils, but the flavor is quite overpowering. It doesn’t necessarily suit the flavor of curry, so I don’t recommend to use it here.
If you would like to have a spicier version of the dish, add for example chopped fresh chili pepper or chili powder, or simply use hot curry paste.
You can make the dish more colorful by adding for example chopped bell peppers of various colors or other vegetables you like.
I have all the supplies for this except the onion, but I am gong to try it out with cilantro instead. I like the taste of curry and cilantro together. I am going to add it in at the end with the cabbage. I am actually super excited about this one! I ordered a bunch of different curry pastes from amazon that got rave reviews; green, red, and yellow. I will be testing out the green first (my favorite). I ended up getting conventional cabbage that is already shredded in the bag. They called it “angel hair” as it’s a very fine shred. I will let you know how it turns out. Hopefully I’ll get to it tomorrow!
Deana, sounds delicious! Please let me know how you like the dish and which curry paste you prefer!
Elviira, you have yet to cease to amaze me with your simple, delicious recipes! I don’t know why I grabbed the red curry instead of the green, but either way it was super yummy. I ended up adding the cilantro at the very end when it was all done then covered it for just another minute. It turned out perfect! My only complaint would be that it wasn’t as thick and creamy looking as your pictures. Maybe I reduced the milk too long/much? Either way it was very good. Here’s the kicker that I did NOT expect; BOTH of my kids liked it! I was really surprised because my daughter doesn’t usually like cabbage, and my son can be picky about spicy stuff so I was definitely taken aback. Since I had made it with the intention of eating it all myself over the next couple days, I decided to serve it with dinner. It sat out and I reheated it and the cabbage was still crispy! I served it with the leftover lemon parsley chicken thighs(which also reheated nicely) and the two really accompanied each other splendidly.
Any other genius main and side dishes floating around in your head please post and I am sure I will try them!
Hi Deana, I’m so glad that you and your both kids liked the cabbage! Wonderful! I wonder if the brand of the coconut milk affects how thick the final dish is. For me Edward & Sons (link in the recipe) worked well. You can also simply try coconut cream, it’s thicker than coconut milk. Cooking and reducing the coconut milk enough before adding the cabbage usually does the trick. If you use thickeners, you can add a tiny pinch xanthan or guar gum to ensure the thickness. The bad thing is, that if you add a little bit too much xanthan or guar gum, the texture will be slimy.
Actually, I have plenty of ideas but very little time to test them. Soon my son is starting at a daycare, and I’m planning to concentrate on recipe development and cookbook writing. Hope to come up with other useful dishes…