The Hindi word for Cauliflower and Cabbage sound very much alike. While the former is called Gobi, the latter is called Band-Gobi. Band, meaning closed, as in, the florets of the cauliflower are not out in the open, they’re closed. Get it? Well, it is what it is, and in the great northern plains of India, these are two vegetables are made very frequently in any number of ways. They’re staples, if you will, and there are as many themes as there are variations to the subzis that may be made with them.
And in my house, I make them any which way I please as well. I’ll mix and match and season as I go. Come on, what did you expect– it’s cauliflower, for crying out loud! I don’t need one set recipe for it! And as for the cabbage or band-gobi, here’s another thing I do all the time: I buy pre-shredded cabbage cut up for Coleslaw, a very American side-dish. But of course, I have no intention of making coleslaw, I open up the bag and stirfry the lot– which is mainly green cabbage, but there’s also some red cabbage and a little carrot in the mix too.
And as for my cauliflower or gobi, I stirfried this one up with some baby carrots and some peas. All other standard seasonings in place, of course, which if you’re wondering are: cumin, green chillies, red onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric,and salt.
So, here’s to these two Gobis today. Open and Closed. Very different the both of them, and very versatile too. Serve with Rotis and Rice.
