Cauliflower Cashew Masala (20 August 2014 )

Cooking Indian Food might be challenging in many ways. It is time-consuming, seems rather complicated with many spices and offers many tears while chopping onions. However once you try to cook it you will discover new flavors and vegetarian food becomes so tasty and good thanks to all exotic spices. You need to buy some Indian spices like Garam Masala, Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric Powder, Fennel seeds and you are ready for cooking. This summer I was privileged to learn some tricks about Indian food from Indian Chef Rajendra Rawat. Before we started cooking he gave me a sack of 20 kg onions and 5 kg of garlic to peal. I did it and it felt like I passed the test then it was just to cook. He showed me how to make the base for all Indian sauces and of course we used lots and lots of onion. I had great fun with Chef Rajendra Rawat and I hope it is was not the last cooking session because I have so much to learn from him.
Today I cooked Cauliflower Cashew Masala and served it with basmati rise. I had also some baked eggplants which I fried with onion, garlic and chopped tomatoes. At the end I just added chopped cilantro, more about it Baigan Bharta soon.


4 servings

Ingredients
500 g cauliflower cut into bite size florets
1 tsp salt
1/2 turmeric powder

Masala
2 tblspn vegetable oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 large onion sliced thinly
2 large chopped tomatoes
2 tsp chili powder
1 tblspn coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 tblspn finely chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Grinding
2 dl grated coconut
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tblspn cinnamon powder
10 to 15 cashewnuts
1/2 cup water or as needed to make smooth paste

In a saucepan take chopped cleaned cauliflower and cover it with water. Add in salt and turmeric powder. Bring it to boil and cook for 5 minutes till cauliflower is cooked. Drain and set aside.

Take grinding ingredients in a blender and add enough water to make into a smooth puree. Set aside till use.

Heat oil in a skillet. Add in fennel seeds and let it splatter. Add in onions and cook till it turns golden. Add in chopped tomatoes and cook till it gets thick, around 10-15 minutes. Add in salt and spice powders and cook for a minute.

Add in the cooked cauliflower and mix well with the masala. Cover this and simmer on a low flame for 5 minutes. Add in the ground masala and some water if needed. Mix this and cover again. Cook for around 8 to 10 minutes on a very low flame till the masala is thick. Just before serving add chopped cilantro leaves and serve with basmati rice.