Cauliflower Crazy – Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry

For a while there it was courgetti that the blogosphere was raving about but maybe all the spirulisers have gotten broken or something because the latest vegetable to attain the popularity badge is the head of cauliflower.

I’ve always thought it an appealing looking vegetable, a perfect plump white crown nestled in a bed of green leaves.  Talk about versatile, about the only thing you can’t do is spirulize it.  Boiled, roasted and even crumbled into a rice substitute or moulded into a ‘pizza’ base it is a vessel awaiting your direction.

Steer this vegetable in any way you chose, as a side or as a main contender, it will deliver.  Have you come across Cauliflower Steaks yet? Google them if you haven’t!  Great thick slices panfried and savoured in place of a juicy striploin – I think not!  Yes,I’m a fan of cauliflower but I’m not fanatical, steak it isn’t.

It’s a vegetable and lets just treat it like that.  In this vegetarian curry I like to keep both the sweet potato and cauliflower bitey so be wary of cutting the sweet potato too small, keep it in large chunks.  This recipe is from my cookbook ‘Enjoy!’

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato curry
Serves 4
You will need:
5 cardamom pods
1 medium onion
1 tbsp rapeseed or coconut oil
Thumb-sized chunk of fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 large cauliflower (approx. 750g)
1 large sweet potato (approx. 500g)
200ml passata
500ml vegetable stock
250ml water
Boiled rice, to serve (optional)
Method:
Bash the cardamom pods – a pestle and mortar is good for this job – to release the seeds and discard the husks.
Finely chop the onion. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a low heat and soften the onions for 5 minutes.
Grate the ginger and crush the garlic, then add to the softened onion and mix well. Turn the heat up to medium and add the cardamom seeds, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric and cook for 1 minute.
Break the cauliflower into florets and cut the sweet potato into large bite-size chunks. Add these to the pan, mixing well to coat with the spices, then add the passata and mix well.
Pour in the vegetable stock and enough water to almost cover the vegetables.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid almost covering the pan for 40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Serve as is or with rice.

Top Tip: Store ginger in the freezer and grate it, frozen and unpeeled, with a Microplane grater.

Enjoy!, ‘Til next time, Sheila.