Veg Korean Kimchi: Exciting Korean Flavours Easy To Make At Home
Image Credit: Kimchi is a cabbage based fermented dish | Unsplash

Korea is one of the most influencing countries, whether it comes in the terms of food, fashion or music. Korean food has varieties of cuisines and recipes and Indians these days are just falling in love with their food. Few of the Korean recipes which are very popular in India are Ramen Noodles, Gamjajeon, Bibimbap (a bowl of vegetables, meat, sprouts, eggs), Bingsu (a popular dessert made with frozen berries and fruits), Tteokkbokki, Japchae and many more.

Kimchi is a radish and cabbage-based side dish that is fermented. There are numerous kimchi variations, most of which are not vegetarian due to the usage of fish sauce. However, the ingredients used here are widely available in India to produce the vegetarian and delicious version of Korean kimchi, which is much more Indianized and is filled with Korean flavours which is easy to make at home.

Although kimchi has long been a part of Korean culture, earlier versions were not particularly hot. Garlic and chilli pepper are not mentioned in the earliest kimchi records. [26] Since chilli peppers are a New World crop, they weren't known in Korea until the early seventeenth century, when they became a staple element in kimchi. Portuguese traders brought chilli peppers, which are a native of the Americas, to East Asia. In Jibong yuseol, an encyclopaedia printed in 1614, the chilli pepper is first mentioned. Kimchi with chilli peppers was discussed in Sallim Gyeongje, a text on agricultural management from the 17th to 18th centuries. However, the widespread use of chilli peppers in kimchi did not begin until the 19th century. Early 19th-century recipes are very similar to today’s kimchi.

Korean food has become popular in India | Unsplash

Cooking Time - 15mins

(Serves - 4)

Ingredients:

For Chilli Paste-

  • 25-30 Dried Red Chillies, Soaked 
  • 8 Garlic Cloves 
  • 5 Ginger, Roughly Sliced 
  • 3 cups Water 
  • ¾ cup Vinegar
  • ¾ cup Tomato Ketchup 
  • 1 tbsp Sugar

Vegetables-

  • 400 gram Napa Cabbage, large 
  • 400 gram Cabbage, medium 
  • 1 Radish, large 
  • 4 Carrots, medium 
  • 4 Spring Onions 
  • 2 tbsp Salt 
  • 2 litres Chilled Water 

For Slurry- 

  • ½ cup Water
  • 2 tbsp Rice Flour 
  • 1-2 tbsp Soy Sauce 
  • 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds, Toasted 

Method Of Preparation:

  • Boil water in a pan and add soaked red chillies, garlic cloves and ginger and let it boil
  • Chop Napa cabbage in big slices
  • Chop radish and carrot in thin slices
  • Chop the other vegetables and keep them all in a large vessel and add salt, mixx them well (so that they lose water)
  • Leave the vegetables aside for a minute
  • Take the soaked chillies, garlic and ginger and add vinegar, sugar and tomato ketchup; blend them all together
  • Now add normal water into the vegetables and squeeze all the water and excess salt from the vegetables
  • Put a pan on flame and add water along with rice flour to make a slurry, now turn off the flame
  • Take a big mixing bowl, put vegetables, the chilli, garlic and ginger paste, 1 tsp of soy sauce, sesame seeds, the slurry and mix it all well
  • The kimchi is ready to be served

The beautiful red colour of the kimchi makes it appetising and can be stored for months for further use.