Kitchen-Kollections

Hi all… I started writing this post when suddenly my son started pushing me as well as the lappy… so i showed his milk bottle to him..and now he is rolling it and playing with it..he should be drinking from it!! Hmm..well  here is another curry variety of cauliflower. Cauliflower is low in fat and high in dietary fiber. It releases a peculiar pungent flavor when cooked or steamed. So to avoid that flavor..you can add chopped coriander leaves..

Yellow moong dal(hindi) or pesarapappu(telugu) or yellow lentils are rich in protein and carbs. All you have to do is to  soak them for 15 min and add when the curry is just about to be done. It gives a crunchy taste to the curry.

I will start with the recipe now..this is another of my MIL favorite.

Ingredients

1 cauliflower (florets separated, washed, and kept in salt water for sometime)
1 cup chopped onion
1 chopped green chilli
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup soaked yellow split moong dal
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
1 tbs oil
chopped coriander for garnishing

For tempering
1 tsp fennel seeds or jeera
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp minapapappu or gram dal

Method

• Take a deep pan and add oil. Once its properly heated fry fennel seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric and gram dal. Once they turn light brown, add chopped onion and green chilli.
• Once onions are cooked, add ginger garlic paste and mix well.
• Now add cauliflower florets and mix well so that oil is coated well.
• Add salt and cover it with a lid so that its cooked faster.
• Remember to mix it carefully so that the florest dont break.
• Once the florets are cooked, add the split moong dal and mix it well.
• Cover it with lid and let it cook for exactly 5 minutes and then switch it off.
• Garnish it with chopped coriander and serve hot with either chapatis or rice!

Ingredients

2 Cups of cauliflower florets
1 cup spring onions
4 green chillies slit vertically
1 cup onion chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbs red chilli powder
Hot chilli sauce
Soya sauce
Green chilli sauce

Ingredients for the batter

1 cup besan or gram flour
3 tbs corn flour
1 tbs red chili powder
salt to taste
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of Baking soda
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
A pinch of red food color

Method

• Boil the cauliflower florets in water with little salt. Drain them and keep it aside.
• Mix the ingredients for the batter in a bowl and keep it aside for 10 min.
• Take a deep pan and add 1 cup of vegetable oil. Dip each floret in the batter and deep fry till golden brown. Put these fried florets on a tissue paper so that excess oil is absorbed.
• Take another pan, fry onion, spring onions and green chillies. Add the sauces and fry for a while. Add the florets and mix well so that the sauce is evenly coated. Add salt and red chilli powder.
• Sprinkle coriandar leaves and spring onions on top and serve hot!

Cauliflower is identified by its edible, rounded mass of curds. These curds are often mistakenly referred to as florets, but are actually undeveloped shoot tips. White cauliflower is the most commonly grown, but there are also cultivators with purple, green and even pink curds.

The best way to prepare your cauliflower is to simply wash it in cold preferably salted water. Cut away most of the out side leaves so that the cauliflower stands upright. If you make a cross in the base or cut out the first 2cm of the stalk this will ensure that it cooks quickly. It is recommended to soak your cauliflower for 10mins in salted water to draw out any insects hiding away inside.

Here is another simple recipe ..cauliflower fry.

Cauliflower fry

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1 medium size onion
1 medium size cauliflower
1/2 lemon

Method:

1. Wash cauliflower in hot water [you can optionally place the whole flower in hot water with pinch of salt for about 5 mins]

2. Chop onions lengthwise and keep them aside.

3. Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan.

4. Put some jeera and dhania seeds. when they splutter , add the onions and add a pinch of turmeric. Remember to always cook at medium heat setting. High heat only dehydrates food and hence burns it faster. While the onions are frying, you can cut cauliflower into small florets. you dont really need to chop it fine. Just need to separte big florets or curds into smaller ones. so once they cook they would still retain their shape rather than become pulpy.

5. Once the onions are pinkish brown in color, add the florets. The trick to not making a pulp is this—add in 4 batches, each time mixing so all the onions and pieces mix evenly.

6. Once you are done with adding the florets, add salt to taste. Note: if you put a lid on your pan then all you would get is pulp, not fry. So if you want to see cauliflower florets retain their shape, don’t use lid until much later as I suggest in my next step.

7. Cauliflowers generally cook fast so it will take about 15 mins for the pieces to soften. If you want you can add lid for about a min or 2 [just before removing from heat] on sim heat.

9. Before removing from heat, add chilli powder and popula karam [recipe provided below] and mix well. You can even garnish it with lemon or coriander leaves.