A cabbage will continue to survive, even after being in the refrigerator for a week, while its peers have begun to show explicit signs of decay. I had half a head of cabbage, the other half was used in a noodle preparation, for almost two weeks now. I let it be, hoping that it will eventually lose its battle against time. I would then silently lay it to rest in the trash can.

Yesterday I realized that I was the one who was fighting a losing battle. The cabbage hardly showed any signs of withering, apart from a few black specks. So I chopped an oversized potato, which was on the verge of sprouting, defrosted some supposedly sweet green peas and stir fried them with the now shredded cabbage — an often cooked dish in Bengali households.

I added green chilies and cumin seeds to the smoky mustard oil, along with freshly grated ginger. When they began to crackle and splatter, I added the cubed potato pieces and fried them till they took on a faded brown shade. I introduced the crunchy cabbage shreds at this point along with the emerald stud-like green peas. The addition of cumin powder imparts a surprisingly mellow flavor to the dish and turmeric bestows it with the yellow hue. And as a final touch — a generous sprinkling of aromatic ghee and garam masala.