Badhakopi'r Paturi or Steamed Cabbage in Banana Leaf

A lot of my vegetarian friends and readers came back to me asking for a vegetarian equivalent of the Maacher Paturi or the steamed fish . After racking my head around on what could be a good uncommon vegetarian combination , i hit upon this one , which was quite a stunner . Made with the simplest of ingredients , this was a quite flavorsome and elevated the otherwise common place and everyday household cabbage to another level of gastronomy .

Finely shredded cabbage , when bathed with fervent mustard and poppy seed paste and steamed - makes a beautiful paturi which is a vegetarian's delight . Needless to mention , like any other Paturi , this preparation also needs to be luxuriantly doused in mustard oil and steamed . In an ideal situation , the recipe demands the cabbage to be parceled in a banana leaf , but if you are making this as a part of your everyday home meal like me , you can definitely skip the banana leaf dress up . Due to quarantine and its limitations in getting Banana leaf easily , I used normal cooking foil for the parcels and quite honestly , was very happy with the outcome .

Read more to get this quick cook :

Things you will need

• 1 small cabbage , finely chopped

• 2 tbsp white mustard seeds

• 1 and 1/2 tbsp posto or poppy seeds

• 02 tbsp freshly grated coconut

• 3-4 green chillies

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

• 03 tbsp mustard oil

• Salt to taste

• Banana Leaf or cooking foil for the parcel's

Steps to follow

• Shred the cabbage finely and soak it in hot water with a pinch of salt and allow to rest for about 20 minutes.

• Next , drain and squeeze out any excess water from the shredded cabbage - keep aside.

• Soak the mustard and poppy seeds in warm water for 15 minutes. Drain the water and make a smooth paste along with a pinch of turmeric powder , the fresh coconut and keep aside.

• Take the mustard- poppy seed paste , green chilies, turmeric powder and the mustard oil in a big bowl and mix well. Add in the chopped cabbage , salt to taste and mix everything well .

• Take a piece of banana leaf or kitchen foil , place a small portion of cabbage mixture in center and wrap the banana leaf / foil from all four sides to make a parcel . Refer as per below images.

Steam this for 20 mins and serve hot with steamed rice !