Korean food has found a fan base in India. Among the many other Korean dishes, which are popular among Indian foodies, one is Kimchi. It is a fermented side dish made with cabbage and radish. Kimchi usually falls in the non-vegetarian category because of the use of the fish sauce. However, Chef Kunal Kapoor has shared a more Indianised version of Korean Kimchi. The chef states that he has used ingredients that are easily found in India to make the Korean Kimchi “vegetarian and tasty.” Kimchi is not just delicious in taste but is also known to be good for gut health as it is fermented. Chef Kunal Kapoor has shared the recipe for his vegetarian Kimchi on Youtube. Have a look:

Ingredients: 

For Chilli Paste

Dried Red Chillies, Soaked – 25-30nos

Garlic Cloves – 8 no

Ginger, Roughly Sliced – 5 nos

Water – 3 cups

Vinegar – ¾ cup

Tomato Ketchup  – ¾ cup

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Vegetables

Napa Cabbage, large – 400gm

Cabbage, medium – 400gm 

Raddish, large – 1 no

Carrots, medium – 4 no

Spring Onions – 4 no

Salt – 2 tbsp 

Chilled Water – 2 lts  

For Slurry 

Water – ½ cup

Rice Flour – 2 tbsp

Soya Sauce – 1-2 tbsp

Sesame Seeds, Toasted – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: 

Dip dried red chill in water for 1 – 1 ½ hour. Empty the soaked chillies as well as the water, in which it was soaked, in a pan. Add garlic and ginger to the pan. And leave it to boil. 

Step 2: 

Separate the layers of Napa cabbage and cut out big chunks. You can also mix the regular cabbage in it. On the other hand, cut out thin roundels of radish. Similarly, chop some carrots, and spring onions. Collect all the vegetables in a big parat (a large steel plate). Now sprinkle salt all over the vegetables and keep it aside for an hour. 

Step 3:

Meanwhile, keep a close check on the red chillis. As soon as the water gets dried up, turn off the gas and allow it to cool.  

Step 4:

Once the red chillis cool down, empty them in a mixer to grind and make a paste. Add vinegar, tomato ketchup, and sugar to the red chilli. Grind it and the chilli paste is ready. 

Step 5: 

Coming back to our vegetables, because the quantity of salt was too much we’ll pour some cold water into it or you can wash them under running water. Squeeze the vegetables to get rid of the water as well as the extra salt. 

Step 6:

Now to bind the dish together, we will need slurry. Place a pan on the gas and pour some water along with rice flour. Give it a quick boil, following which the liquid will get a bit thick and a slurry will be formed. Allow it cool.  

Step 7:

Pour the chilli paste on top of the soaked vegetables. To add flavour to the dish, we’ll add some soya sauce as well as some toasted sesame seeds. 

Step 8:

By now our rice flour slurry is cooled. Pour it on top of the vegetables and now it’s time to mix everything. 

Step 9:

It’s ready to serve. You can consume it instantly as well as leave it for 2-3 days. The shelf life of this veg kimchi, as per chef Kunal Kapoor, goes up to 2-3 months. Store it in the fridge.