Seasonal local food recipe No.180 – Cauliflower with fennel and mustard seeds
Or Baghari phool gobi – from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery (the book of the BBC series). This is delicious on its own with rice or jacket potatoes, or served as a side dish with pretty much anything.
Serves 6
Preparation time: 40 minutes (including 30 minutes soaking time)
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients
1 large cauliflower
7 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp whole fennel seeds
1 tbsp whole black mustard seeds
1 tbsp very finely chopped garlic
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1½ tsp salt
4 tbsp water
Method
Cut the cauliflower into delicate flowerets – no longer than 5cm, no wider at the head than 2cm inch and about 1cm thick. Put them into a bowl of water for at least half an hour. Drain them just before you get ready to cook.
Heat the oil in a large 25-30cm frying pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the fennel and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, put in the finely chopped garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic is lightly browned. Add the turmeric and cayenne. Stir once and quickly put in the cauliflower, salt, and about 4 tbsp water. Stir and cook on medium heat for 6-7 minutes or until cauliflower is just done. It should retain its crispness and there should be no liquid left. If the water evaporates before the cauliflower is done, add a little more.
If your frying pan is smaller than the suggested size, the cauliflower will take longer to cook. In that case, it might be a good idea to cover it for 5 minutes.
