Tag Archives: cauliflower

Shakarkandi Gobi – Indian sweet potato and cauliflower

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Aloo Shakarkandi

During our time living in India we became really big fans of Indian food. One of the greatest parts of traveling there was tasting all the different types of food around the country. In India this is normally made with potatoes, but we have substituted them for sweet potatoes in this dish for the extra nutrition.

Ingredients

  • 400g cauliflower, cut into portions / florets
  • 300g sweet potato, peeled and cu into 3cm chips
  • coconut oil
  • pinch of asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1/2 large green chilli, finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp tumeric
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/4 tsp amchur (mango powder)
  • handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  • 120ml water

Directions

  1. Heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the asafoetida, cumin seeds, ginger, chilli and turmeric. Mix and fry for a few seconds.
  2. Add cauliflower, sweet potato, water, and salt, cover and cook on a medium high heat until the water is evaporated. This will take about 10 minutes. Stir once in a while to avoid it catching on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Check that the sweet potatoes are cooked through. If they are not you may need to cook them for a little while longer, and add a little more water to create the steam to cook them in.
  4. Add the garam masala, coriander and mango powder. Mix and serve.
  5. Can be served as a side dish with Chicken Cardamon Curry with Papaya or another curry dish.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream

 

 

Cauliflower Rice with Indian Spices

Dinner, , , , , , , , ,

Cauliflower rice with Indian Spices

We lived in India for 2 years and fell in love with the food. Indian cooking has been a regular feature of our table, and counts amoung the favorite foods of our son. This isn’t a traditional Indian dish, but is inspired by the spices of South India to create a rice substitute dish that combines beautifully with South Indian curries such as South Indian Prawn Mango Curry, or Coconut Spinach Curry with Meatballs.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Blend the cauliflower in a blender or food process until it has a rice like consistency.
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the curry leaves, mustard seeds, cardamon pods and dried chillies. Fry off the spices until the spices are fragrant and the mustard seeds begin to splutter.
  3. Add the dried coconut and fry for another couple of minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Add the cauliflower to the pan and fry for about 10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked through, stirring constantly to avoid it sticking.
  5. Serve with any Indian curry such as South Indian prawn mango curry, or Coconut spinach curry with meatballs.

About cardamon:
Cardamon (also known as cardamom) is a spice native to India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan. They are recognised by their small seed pods, triangular in cross-section, with a thin outer shell and filled with small black seeds. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic fragrance. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma. Cardamon is used in both sweet and savoury dishes, and can also be added to tea as is commonly done in India when making Masala Chai (tea).

Curry leaves:
The curry tree is a tropical to sub-tropical tree, which is native to India and Sri Lanka. Its leaves are used in many dishes in India and neighbouring countries. Often used in curries, the leaves are generally called by the name ‘curry leaves,’ although they are also literally ‘sweet neem leaves’ in most Indian languages. Small and green, they are best bought fresh rather than dried, and do not last particularly long. You can find them in specialist Indian or Asian stores in many cities around the world.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Anirudh Ravichander – Best of Anirudh