Sambharo – Stir fry Carrots, Cabbage, Bramley apples and chillies

I bet my cotton socks that you’ll never eat plain salad after trying this dish!!

I was once told by a Gujarati chef that sambharo is served as a side dish in a lot of Indian thalis. The sambharo has to be hot and spicy with a hint of sweet and sour. I was told that it’s got to be the dish everyone remembers and talks about!! “Sambharo in Gujarati means to remember”. Once you have eaten a properly made sambharo – you will always remember it.    Gathia and sambharo are a favourite combination in Gujarat and in my home too. In fact, I can eat left over sambharo for days.

The basic ingredients of any sambharo are  hot green chilies added to carrots and white cabbage.  During the mango season, a lot of people like to add thin slices raw mangoes to the sambharo. You can also add small slices of raw papaya to give it an exotic taste and look . My favourite is to make a sambharo with as many of the ingredients as possible.  This week , I didn’t have have any raw mangoes or papayas so I substituted the raw mangoes for Bramley apples.

Bramley apples are only grown in UK and are often referred to as cooking apples.  They are often very large and don’t cost a lot.  They have a sharp taste and can be used in lots of cooking and my favourite is using them in making a curry,  A hot and spicy chundo (preserve) or this sambharo.   Have you heard the saying  “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?”   Read about the benefits of apples and Bramley apples here 

sharp cooking apples and created a perfect balance with my hot Kenyan chilies, white cabbage and locally grown carrots.  The sambharo tasted really great with my hot puris.

Ingredients for 4-6 servings as a side dish

• 2 cups of finely chopped white cabbage
• 2 medium carrots – grated
• 12-14 hot sliced chillies (Remove the stem and slice the chillies into 2. Wash and remove the seeds.) Note: you can use less if you wish to make this milder
• 1 large bramley apple – grated
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2-3 tbls sunflower oil

Method:

1. Heat the pan and add the oil. Once the oil heats, add the mustard seeds and cover the dish. Once the seeds stop popping, add the grated and chopped cabbage, carrots, apples and green chillies.

2. Add the salt and turmeric and stir the vegetables.

3. Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes like you would a stir fry but with no addition of any more sauces or liquids.  You need to keep the vegetables al dente to enjoy the flavours.

4. Serve this hot as a condiment or side dish with any Indian meal.  I served it with puris.

Have you any recipes that leave you a lasting memory like my sambharo?

Other variations of sambharo are also listed in my blog:

• Spicy Salad or Sambharo
• Mango, Papaya, Kenyan chillies and mixed vegetables – tropical hot sambharo
• White Cabbage and fresh Green chillies Salad (sambharo)
• Farari Sambharo ( Stir fry sweet potatoes and chilies)
• Raw papaya and chilies Stir fry called sambharo (Papaya no sambharo)

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