Cauliflower and green peas dry curry (T&T)

I have been a cauliflower hater most of my life. I hated all about it: the taste, the color and specially the smell. I remember that when I was little, I couldn’t stand arriving at home from school and smelling this thing — just mentioning “cauliflower” was enough to send shivers down my spine— while it was cooking in the kitchen. I admit that I was a little bit fussy about food when I was little (not just with cauliflower) but I still can’t understand my past aversion to this veggie. My mother was always trying to disguise it covering it with an omelet; it worked with my brother, but not with me….I was too clever (just kidding. I suppose my brother loved omelet too much to leave it on the plate. My mother, of course, always made sure that the cauliflower was broken in tiny, tiny florets)

Now I love it. And I don’t need covering it with anything: I can eat it plain, steamed and just with a drizzle over it. Actually, I eat most of my veggies this way: it’s easy and you can savor them in all their glory (I am sure that I have already told it…and more than once. I wonder why I am such a pain in the neck).  I could do a list of all the veggies I hated before going vegan and that now I adore, but I am afraid that you would fall asleep before I finished.

A couple of days ago I was in a café, speaking with a friend: she ordered a chocolate bun and told me she was addicted to it; I told her that I was addicted to Brussels sprouts and broccoli (now I am afraid that I lost her forever).

But if I only ate steamed veggies I wouldn’t have anything to blog about, so sometimes I need to cook something more elaborated. An example is this cauliflower curry I did for this month Tried and Tasted. Since Renae sent me a box full of spices because I complained about how difficult it was to buy them here (I won’t get tired of saying it…you’re a darling! : ) I suppose you will receive soon your parcel from Spain), every time I cook something Indian I am like a kid with a new toy….at least I can cook something without omitting half of the ingredients! 

So if you like Indian cuisine too, have a look at Sunshinemom’s Tongue Ticklers, the blog of the month in Tried&Tasted November edition. The hostess is Raaga, from The Singing Chef. As always, you have more information Raagas entry on T&T, or in Zlamushka’s original post. But the principle is easy: you cook something from Tongue Ticklers, make a photo, blogs about it and send it to the hostess (this month to The Singing Chef  webmistress). Non-bloggers are welcome too.

Feel free to use this logo (I am the official T&T designer…yay!),but it would be nice if you linked back to Tales of a Spoon ;) It’s the only thing that I ask in return.

Cauliflower and green peas dry curry - Gobi Matar ki sukhi subzi Serves: 3 From: Tongue Ticklers 1 kg cauliflower ½ cup peas (I used one cup) 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp carom seeds  ( Sunshinemom emphasized that it shouldn’t be omitted, but I didn’t have any) ¼ tsp fennel seeds 1 ½ coriander powder ½  tsp cumin seed powder ¼ turmeric Chili (to taste; I didn’t add  too much) 1/8 dry mango powder 1 tsp fenugreek Coriander and dry fenugreek leaves (I omitted this) Break the cauliflower in small florets. Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet (or in a wok) and add the cumin, carom and fennel seeds. Add the cauliflower, salt and cover until half cooked. Add the peas and cook until almost done. Add the powdered spices (turmeric, coriander, chili, mango and cumin). Sauté. Adjust the seasoning if needed. Finally, add the fenugreek, sauté for a minute more and turn off the heat. Sunshinemom recommends serving it on rotis or rice

Verdict
Definitely, you can’t omit half of the spices when cooking something Indian like I was doing. I have done curry many times before, but it never tasted like this (I suppose it’s logical when you curry lack some essential ingredients, like turmeric). It was spicier than I am used to, but I liked it. I have been only once in an Indian restaurant (it was in Prague, and my friends told me that it was real Indian food. If their Indian friends told them it, I suppose it was true) and it was rather spicy….but very pleasant to palate. You know, spicy enough but not too spicy. Well, this is the most similar to something Indian I have ever cooked :-) Light, easy to digest (fennel and cumin are very good in this sense), low-fat and quite quick. Maybe I will try a wet variation of it (but first I have to find a soy yoghurt without a tone of sugar in it)

Now that summer is over, I have dug up some photos I did when I was still on holidays.