Cauliflower - Indian renditions

[Monica Bhide]

First let me apologize for the pics.. not sure why they are not clear.

I wanted to share with you two of my favorite cauliflower dishes...The first one is a simple stir fry and the second one is the much loved deep fried cauliflower.. Indian chinese style.. how do you like to prepare yours? What are some favorites? Do share....?

Pic 1

Cauliflower subzi.. simple as can be..

Pic 2

Indian Chinese style Cauliflower

[SobaAddict70]

Just had a cauliflower stuffed kulcha as a snack.

Otherwise, along with tomatoes, ginger and onions.

Or as aloo gobi.

Soba

[Rushina]

I just love cauliflower! I could it it in almost any form!

I like mine just so, slightly stirfried till the stalks get a bit green, almost raw, tossed into salads sesame.

I like the chinese way in the picture.

I like it with peas in the Gujerati way.

I also like it ing Gobi Aloo but I can never get that quite right. It involves using a lot of oil and I cannot do that. Cook with too much oil.

Rushina

[bague25]

I just can’t stop gobbling gobi parathas, gobi pakoras and mince stuffed whole gobi with tomato curry

[Guest nimki]

punjabi style - fried in mustard oil with dry red chillis and slivers of fresh ginger and turmeric. Then, the oil is drained out.

well not fried exactly.....just made in a LOT of oil. superb doesn't even come close to describe this.

[Monica Bhide]

what do others like.. come on.. do tell

[slkinsey]

Monica, those look delicious! And I have always loved Indian treatments of cauliflower. Get thee to recipeGullet and put in some recipes forthwith!

[Edward]

Deep fried in ghee and then folded into warm creme fraiche with roasted cumin-chili powder, salt, and chopped cilantro!

[Episure]

Deep fried in ghee and then folded into warm creme fraiche with roasted cumin-chili powder, salt, and chopped cilantro!

Sounds absolutely yum!

[katzenjammy]

There's a cauliflower curry recipe in the original Moosewood cookbook (not sure if it's still there in the new edition) that has become a staple in our home. Not very authentic perhaps (it involves peanuts and orange juice, among the more usual aromatics and spices). But oh so very tasty, especially if you double the amount of cayenne called for in the recipe.

[Monica Bhide]

My two step caulifower is what my husband calls perfect sin... hee hee hee... Deep fried florets served sprinkled with Chaat masala.... thats it! Serve atop rice or as is for appetizers..

[Monica Bhide]

mince stuffed whole gobi with tomato curry

oooooooooooohhhhhh -- recipe please

[JustKay]

Aloo Gobi. Otherwise, I don't like cauliflowers. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in my attempts to make this at home.

[bague25]

mince stuffed whole gobi with tomato curry

oooooooooooohhhhhh -- recipe please

Monica

I make it by "andaaz" (feeling). I'll reproduce it this weekend, note the recipe and post it then.

[Episure]

How do you stuff mince into a Cauliflower? My mind boggles, this may turn out into a very interesting technique.

[bague25]

You do not "stuff" it per se. Parboil the cauliflower and turn it upside down - carefully remove some core and stuff some mince (that has been given kabab/kofta treatment) between the florets and in the crevices. Turn the cauliflower in a bowl and then more stuffing is used to coat the cauliflower – the whole things is baked and served with a tomato curry. When you wedge the cauliflower to serve, you have a inner meat core, the cauliflower and an outside meat coating

From memory one of the older Tarla Dalal books (I think Wonders of Vegeterian cooking has a vegetarian version). There is also a recipe in the Maharastrian Cooking book (title?) by Aroona Reejsinghani. Unfortunately these are Mom’s books, I cannot lay my hands on them and so I cannot be more precise.

Edited May 12, 2004 by bague25 (log)

[Episure]

Got it!

I know this is going to be a winner.

Thanks Bague, you rock!

[Monica Bhide]

Aloo Gobi. Otherwise, I don't like cauliflowers. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in my attempts to make this at home.

kew - welcome to the India forum. From your note I gather you are writing in from Malaysia.. welcome .. we look forward to more posts from you!

Why dont you start a thread on your efforts with aloo gobhi.. we have a whole crew here who will be happy to guide you to perfect completion

[Comfort Me]

I love aloo gobi -- I use Gurinder Chadha's recipe. (She directed Bend it Like Beckham -- watch the special feature on the DVD for a wonderful and entertaining cooking lesson, closely supervised by her mother and Aunti-ji!)

I also love samosa's stuffed with cauliflower. I made my recipe up, substituting cauliflower for the potato in a the recipe for samosas in The Higher Taste, a Hare Krishna book on living a vegetarian life. My only problem with the recipe is that they do not use any onion or garlic whatsoever because of religious belief, and use hing instead. Hing does add an interesting flavor, but it just doesn't replace onion and garlic for me. India has such vast religious diversity -- I hope my addition isn't culturally inappropriate.

I really love Indian food -- as does my wife and 7 year old son. I am very lucky that they love the whole shebang -- cilantro, cumin, chiles. No picky eaters in our house! I wish Chicago had opportunities for westerners to learn Indian cooking. I was offered lessons in making chapatis early in the year, but I lost the contact, and have been kicking myself ever since.

[Monica Bhide]

You are fine in your substitutions. i am true to my roots.. I cannot eat without onions!!

Thanks for taking the time to post.. please do continue to post.. its nice to have you here!

[JustKay]

kew - welcome to the India forum. From your note I gather you are writing in from Malaysia.. welcome .. we look forward to more posts from you!

Why dont you start a thread on your efforts with aloo gobhi.. we have a whole crew here who will be happy to guide you to perfect completion

Thanks for the welcome Monica.

I have been trying to read all the posts (there are TONS ) all over eGullet and I am really enjoying this place so far. It is indeed a haven for a home baker/home cook like me.

I will definitely take up on the offer for help with Aloo Gobi. Once perfected, I want to try Dum Aloo Kahsmiri which is my other favorite dish. I can already make decent Briyani and Tandoori/Tikka. I know there's a whole lot more to Indian food than just these.

We tried the Batura the last time we were at Bombay Palace and my kids love it. I have a recipe for it but have yet to try. Now, I'm motivated. And we also tried a new dish (to us) - fish fillets in very thick white gravy. Quite yummy. My second son who does not like hot and too spicy a dish, has been bugging me to find a recipe and make him some. Trouble is, I can't even remember the name of the dish! LOL!

Uh, it's 10:45pm here and this is making me hungry. Not good.

And .... I've digressed from the topic.

[bague25]

Here is the recipe I promised. Unfortunately the pictures were awful so I wait for you guys to post some on

Stuffed Ghobi

1 medium sized cauliflower

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

Filling:

1 kg mince

1 cup finely minced chopped onion

1 tbsp garlic minced

1 tbsp ginger minced

1 tsp chilli pd

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin pd

2 tsp coriander pd

Salt to taste

2 eggs

1 cup dried breadcrumbs

Curry:

½ cup minced onion

2 cups pureed tomatoes (use fresh tomatoes)

1 tsp chilli pd

1 tbsp garam masala

3 tbsp kasuri methi

½ cup butter (divided)

¼ cup cream

Salt to taste

Method:

For the curry:

Heat ¼ cup butter. Add onion and fry till golden. Then add puree, chilli pd, garam masala, salt to taste and kasuri methi and cook for 10 minutes, adding water (½ to 1 cup) if the mixture thickens too much. Lower heat and fold in butter and cream. Keep warm. I sometimes add boiled peas and wild mushrooms to this curry

For the Cauliflower:

Boil enough water to completely immerse the cauliflower. Add salt and lemon juice and cook for 10 minutes till done. Drain and cool completely.

For the stuffing:

Mix all ingredients together.

Assembly:

Turn the cauliflower upside down. Carefully remove some of the core – this is the tricky part, some flowerettes will come off. Stuff some mince in this cavity and reconstruct the cauliflower and using the flowerettes and the stuffing as “glue”. Now turn the cauliflower on a greased baking dish (I use a shallow oven safe glass dish) and cover with the filling.

Bake at 200°C for 40 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish. Pour the sauce over and serve.

I have sometimes doubled the curry recipe as my family always have a double portion of sauce (this curry can be used as mock chicken tikka masala sauce – heat leftover tandoori chicken in this sauce and it freezes well).

I have also served the stuffed cauliflower with a classic tomato saar.

Now over to you - I'm waiting for feedback

Edited May 17, 2004 by bague25 (log)

[Monica Bhide]

WOW - now this looks GOOD

[Episure]

It's a prize winner and I am sure that it's more difficult than it sounds, a pic would have definitely helped.