15
Jul
Curried Cabbage Pillows
Saved in:- Raw Recipes
From Issue 9 of News From The kitchen
This recipe is also from my forthcoming Recipe Series Thai-style eBook. It’s proved to be very popular and is great for adapting to contain your favourite filling of any style! Enjoy…

Click ‘more’ for full recipe
Makes 8 pillows
For the wrappers
Make 2 batches of this wrapper recipe for 8 pillows.
5c peeled courgette (zucchini)
3T olive oil
2t Lime juice
1/2t cayenne
1t ground coriander
1/2t salt
1/4c flax meal*
• Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.
• Add flax meal and blend again until smooth.
• Pour mixture onto a dehydrator sheet and spread evenly into a square. you can choose the size, but for the ones in the photo the mixture was spread 26cm x 26cm square.
• Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F, or until able to peel of the sheet.
• Once the dehydrator sheets are removed, return to the dehydrator for 30 mins, until both sides are dry to the touch but still pliable.
* Flax meal is flax seed that have been ground in a coffee grinder or similar, to produce a fine flour.
For the filling
5c white cabbage, shredded
6 spring onions (scallions)
2t cumin
2t ground coriander
1/4c cold pressed sesame oil
1T toasted sesame oil (optional)
1t salt
2T tamari or nama shoyu
2t lime juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed/minced
2 red Thai chilies, deseeded and minced
2T agave
3T tamarind paste* (optional)
1c fresh coriander, roughly chopped
* Soak 200g tamarind in 1/c water and break up with your hands. Strain the mixture through a sieve and you’re left with tamarind paste. It should be roughly the consistency of watery yoghurt.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.
To assemble
• Cut each of the wrapper squares from the dehydrator trays, which should still be pliable, into 4 equal squares.
• Start with one of those smaller squares in front of you so that one corner is close to you.
• Place a good amount of the filling mixture into the centre of the square.
• Fold up the corner that is closet to you into the centre, then fold up the left and right corners so that you form an envelope.
• You will need to wet the edges as you go along so they stick in place.
• Fold down the final corner, as if you were closing an envelope and use water to stick it down (you will find that you’ll get better at this the more you do).
• Place on a dehydrator mesh tray.
• When all 8 are done, return to the dehydrator for a further 1 to 2 hours at 105 degrees F. Serve with dipping sauce.
• Dehydrate any left-over cabbage mix until crispy; it makes a great addition to any salad.
For the dipping sauce
1 cucumber, peeled
1 mango, skin & stone removed
1/4t salt
1t lime juice
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 small handful fresh coriander
• Blend all ingredients, except spring onions, until smooth.
• Add most of the spring onion and all the coriander and pulse in.
• Pour sauce into a small bowl and top with remaining spring onion.
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Ariel says on 16 July, 2008
I really loved this recipe, I’m making it again this week actually, just want to know how I would get my cabbage to look like yours in the picture. It didn’t come out looking that good. Keep giving us good recipes. Thanks.
From Russell: Thanks, Ariel. How did it look then?
Ariel says on 16 July, 2008
It looked like regular grated cabbage or shredded cabbage. Not solid and uniformed like yours. Was there some special method you did to get it to look like that? Could you please share?
From Russell: No probs, try using a mandoline – it will give you those longer strands.
Kristen's Raw says on 17 July, 2008
Beautiful picture and recipe :)
Cheers,
Kristen Suzanne
Ariel says on 17 July, 2008
Funny thing is I did use a mandoline one of those handheld ones which didn’t do too hot. Is there a certain way I should do it? Any sides I should start with first? Should I use a julienne slice? Any particular way to cut the cabbage? The recipe is still good even with my crazy looking cabbage shreds :), when are youcoming out with your ebooks?
From Russell: Cut the cabbage into quarters, from the top to the bottom, then put them in the mandoline lengthwise. I never knew how difficult it was to describe using a mandoline with just words. Lol. My first eBook will be out this week with my website, or next week at the latest.
Dorothy says on 17 July, 2008
Glad to see you’re back Russell with the wonderful recipes. keep us happy, smile.
wendy says on 30 July, 2008
Dear Russell,
My name is Wendy and I have children with numerous food allergies. Eating more raw food has been challenging for us due to a lot of nut recipes, the fact that none of us seems to do well on fruit (yeast), and that a lot of the recipes seem to be the same variations of salsa, guacamole, pureed soup, and desserts that all seem to resemble Lara Bars. These are nice but not enough. After purchasing numerous raw books, your recipes have a lot of eye appeal and make this lifestyle appear more realistic. Thank you for making these options available. Do you have a book out?
I just signed up for your newsletter but I don’t know how many Recipes I have missed so far.
All the best,
Wendy
All the best
From Russell:
No book as yet, but I do get asked at least 3 times a day :-) First eBook comes out very soon, so you’ll get to hear about that.
Valerie says on 9 August, 2008
Hello,
is there a uk source for jicama? It would e nice to be able to poroduce a comfort food like chips to entice the family to try raw a little more.
Kurt and Melissa says on 9 August, 2008
Delicious! I typically do not like cabbage, but the photo was enough to whet my appetite. I made the wrappers and the filling; and, it was absolutely amazing.
I couldn’t figure out how you got the cabbage to look that way, so thanks for posting that.
Kate says on 26 August, 2008
Drooling….I will be trying this recipe soon…Hhhhmmmm…not soon enough!
Carrie says on 22 November, 2008
Russell –
Do you know how long the wrap and the filling should last for in the fridge? I’m thinking about making these for Thanksgiving, but I’m making a few things via the dehydrator, so if i could make these ahead, that would be a great help! Thanks!!!
From Russell: The filling will keep for a day or 2, and the wrappers the same,
Lesley says on 30 November, 2008
Hi Russell,
I had a problem making the wrap. I don’t have a vitamix and so used my food processor but the mixture was very wet and dried out over 24 hrs in the dehydrator, but had holes. It wasn’t usable. When I try it again would it help to increase the amount of flax meal and by how much would you say? Many thanks.
From Russell: The way you blend the mixture shouldn’t cause any difference in the wetness. Was it still pliable when you dried it for 24 hours or did it go crispy?
Lesley says on 2 December, 2008
Thanks Russell, it didn’t really go either, it was just a thin layer stuck to the sheet. I did notice it wasn’t the same colour as yours, more green looking. I did use the right amount of flax seeds according to the recipe though. I don’t know what I did wrong, the courgettes were very watery once they were blended – could that be it?
Many thanks
Lesley
Sylvia says on 7 December, 2008
Hi Russell
I had the same problem of Leslie, I did 1/2 of the dose for the wrap as I’m on my own. It came out of a greenish colour, still pliable but very fragile so that when I did try to fold it up, it just broke and/or melt.
I wonder if for the one in the picture you used coconut jelly.
As I liked the taste I kept the filling and I did another wrap using dessicated coconut, flax meal and apple plus all spices, it actually went out quite well and the wrap was done in just 2 hours.
However I’d love to do it with the courgettes, any advice, maybe more flax meal?
Thank you
From Russell: Hi Sylvia, firstly it sounds like you didn’t peel the courgette enough/at all if the wraps are green! :-) The ones in the picture used exactly the ingredients in the recipe, so you may be spreading them too thin. Let me know how you get on.
Sylvia says on 8 December, 2008
Thank you – I will try again.
About the peeling you’re right I peeled them ‘lightly’ as I thought are organic.
Will go deeper next time and try ticker spread
…. learning from mistakes… :D
From Russell: It’s the only way :-)
Kendra says on 7 January, 2009
Hi Russell! I love your work! I tried this recipe and although I didn’t have all the ingredients for the filling, it was quite tasty. I can’t wait to try it with tamarind paste! I never would have thought to use zuchinni to make a wrap..how genius and delicious. But I had one problem. I was making this for myself so I reduced the amounts and guessed at the ingredient proportions. My wrap broke apart a little bit. Would you please give me the ingredient measurements for everything to make this for 1 or 2 people. I have no idea how many zuchinni I should use to fill a cup because I don’t know how big you dice yours.
From Russell: Hi Kendra, roughly chop the zuchinni about 1cm thick – there is room for slightly more or less, it won’t effect the recipe if you chop it slightly differently.
Kendra says on 8 January, 2009
One more question, did you add curry to this recipe Russell? I couldn’t find it in the ingredients list.
From Russell: No curry needed, the curry flavour comes from the mix of herbs and spices in there.
Heidi says on 13 January, 2009
I have made the cabbage pillows twice now, and they are fabulous.
I don’t know if you have tried kelp noodles, yet. I’ve heard they can be a bit of a challenge to obtain in the UK, but, your cabbage pillow sauce goes beautifully with them.
I double the sauce and and herbs. Half goes with the cabbage, and half goes with one package of rinsed kelp noodles. It makes enough to serve 2 very hungry or 3 hungry adults. I dehydrate for about 1/2 hour until the noodles and cabbage are lovely and soft. It reminds me of raw version Pad Lao, a Laotian version of Pad Thai, made with a savory brown sugar and a hot tamarind lime sauce.
This looks so beautiful with your sweet and spicy sunflower seeds served on top – I substituted almonds for the sunnies, because they were soaked and ready to go. Additional garnishes could be julienned red pepper, carrots, lime wedges, cucumber slices, shredded purple cabbage, and more fresh cilantro and/or thai basil and mint.
For your readers who make kombucha at home, if they want a shortcut to the tamarind paste, 1/4 – 1/2 cup of kombucha vinegar and 2 pitted dates blended together makes a really nice substitute.
From Russell: Thanks, Heidi. Great tips, sounds like you’ve been busy :-)
lauren says on 26 February, 2009
could you add fresh grated ginger to this?
From Russell: Sure can :-)
Samantha says on 24 March, 2009
If not using the wraps right away, where would you say I store them? In an airtight container in the cabinet or the fridge? Thanks!!
From Russell: In an airtight container will be fine as long as they’re dry but they will last longer in the fridge too.