Meera Sodha’s Cauliflower Korma with Blackened Raisins
Meera Sodha's delicious recipe for cauliflower korma is packed with aromatic spices and flavourful caramelized and roasted vegetables. It's easy to put together, making it the perfect vegetarian curry to serve when entertaining.
From the book
Fresh India: 130 Quick, Easy and Delicious Recipes for Every Day
The go-to guide for vegetarian Indian cooking
130 stunning recipes with a fresh and light feel
Beautiful puddings with Indian-inspired flavours
Introduction
This is a really great dish to make when people come round, as it’s a crowd-pleaser and easy to cook. Normally, the sauce comes together at the same time as the roasted cauliflower, leaving you more time to tell your best jokes or play the spoons to your guests. A lot of the flavour in this dish comes from both caramelizing the onions and roasting the cauliflower, so don’t compromise on either of those.
Ingredients
| 2 | large cauliflowers (about 1.6kg in total) |
| Rapeseed oil | |
| Salt | |
| 2 | large brown onions, thinly sliced |
| 6 | cloves of garlic |
| 6cm | ginger, peeled |
| ¾ tsp | ground cardamom (or finely ground seeds from 8 pods) |
| 1 tsp | ground black pepper |
| 2 tsp | garam masala |
| ½ tsp | chilli powder |
| 100g | ground almonds |
| 2 tbsp | runny honey |
| 500ml | Greek yoghurt |
| 200-300ml | milk |
| A handful | raisins |
| A handful | flaked almonds |
Essential kit
You will need: two large baking trays lined with foil.
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and line two large baking trays with foil.
Break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and put into a large bowl. Pour over 4 tablespoons of oil (or enough to coat them properly), then scatter over 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix with your hands until they’re completely coated, and place in a single layer on the baking trays. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and nicely browned in places. Check every 10 minutes – if the florets start to burn, cover them loosely with foil.
In the meantime, put 3 tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the onions. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and browning, then crush in the garlic and grate in the ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the ground cardamom, black pepper, garam masala, chilli powder, ground almonds, honey and 1¼ teaspoons of salt (or to taste). Stir-fry for 3 minutes, then add the yoghurt.
Turn the heat down to low and cook for around 10 minutes, until the sauce starts to turn a rich gold. When the cauliflower is tender, tip it into the sauce and stir to coat. Thin the sauce to the consistency of pouring yoghurt with milk, and heat through. Check for seasoning, as you may need to add a little more salt.
Finally, put a small frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the raisins and flaked almonds. Stir-fry until the raisins start to blacken and puff up and the almonds turn golden brown, then take off the heat.
To serve, scatter the raisins and toasted almonds over the top of the cauliflower, and serve with rice or chapattis (see page 288 of Fresh India by Meera Sodha).
