Veggies!!
This is the vegetable portion of Weekend Cookout where I made Spinach with Grated Coconut and cabbaged cooked in turmeric and mustard seeds. Well, all the reference I got was from eating Banana Leaf Rice back in Malaysia where you’d get 3 different types of veggies, an option of dhall and/curry and topped with whatever protein you want. The cabbage and spinach ones came into mind mostly so I tried to recreate two of that veggies dish last weekend. It was quite a success as the tastes are almost similar.
Indian cuisine tend to overcook their veggies – and cook veggies are kind of like a peeve of mine. I hate overcooked vegetables in general, but when there’s so much spice, the limpness and softness of the veggies kinda goes with the spices used for some reason. 
Cabbage with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds:
1/4 cabbage, sliced into 1 cm in width
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
salt and pepper to taste
a bit of water
1 tablespoon oil
Method:
1. Heat pan with oil and saute garlic until it is fragrant and a slight opaqueness can be seen on the sides. Add mustard seeds until it starts popping.
2. Now you can dump your cabbage in with roughly 2 tablespoons of water and let the cabbage wilt and cook.
3. Add your turmeric, salt and pepper and saute until all is well combined. Cover and cook for another 5-8 minutes more.
Serve
Spinach with grated coconut recipe:
2 bags of spinach, cleaned and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
1/4 cup of grated coconut
1/4 cup cream/full cream milk
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oil
Method:
1. Heat pan with oil and saute garlic together until fragrant, approx. 2 minutes.
2. Add coconut, cream, ginger, cumin and chili powder in. Saute until mixture is well blended and the smell of the spices permeates the air. Add a little salt and pepper to taste.
3. Now add your spinach and cover to cook for a few minutes, until spinach is wilted and cooked down (approx. 5-8mins).
4. Continue cooking if you want a softer texture but if you want more crunch, you can serve your cooked spinach now.
With that veggie recipes completed, you see what I have in my plate. I ate with my hands, like a true blue malaysian, that day. It’s been a while since I did and man, food never tasted SOOOO good! 
Maybe indian veggies tend to be overcooked because roti, or naans can then scoop out the mushy vege when dipped in the same curry.
You just had some good authetic indian meal.
Yea, I guess you’re right about mushiness = scoop-ability
I just think overcook veggies are empty calories and that gets in the way of eating and fun for me sometimes. BUT, for indian food, i’ll close an eye! 
I like my veggies crunchy as well…but then again…I’ll eat anything with a bit of chilli in it!
lol, yea me too!
wow! look at all the Indian food I’ve been missing. I have indian tummy!
PS: how hard was it to shoot this with the leftie?
aaah nothing like eating with the fingers. Of course, one has to scrub the lingering fragrance from the fingers after that. And it does ruin the manicure. haha.