Cauliflower with Scallions and Indian Spices

With hundreds of gluten-free Indian recipes to choose from, I went on a mini cooking spree last week. Here’s a vegetarian, GF recipe for cauliflower. (Cat update included!)

When done, the cauliflower is glazed with spice-infused oil and dotted with black mustard, cumin, and fennel seeds and chopped scallions and curry leaves.

Three things I like about Indian cuisine: (1) The wide array of spices used—when you line up the ones you need for your recipe on a plate, they make a 10-color rainbow, each color representing a unique flavor. (2) No gluten! If you avoid eating naan (the Indian flat bread) you really don’t have to worry about gluten at all. (3) Absolutely delicious!

Bonus thing I like about Indian recipes: There is no single, set way to make any dish. Each has a many variations as there are cooks, so if you discover you don’t have a particular spice that’s called for, it’s ok, leave it out, or if you like a particular spice a lot, add more! Then it is your very own recipe.

So I made several Indian dishes last week, because I figured as long as I was pulling all my most fragrant spices out of the cabinets (cardamom pods! fennel seeds!), I might as well just keep using them. So I made cauliflower with scallions (vegetarian and gluten-free), chicken vindaloo (GF), raita with cucumbers and tomatoes (veg and GF), and mulligatawny soup (GF). I’ll tell you about the cauliflower here, and send out the other recipes later. (I’ve previously published an Indian recipe for black eyed peas.)

The cauliflower is great served alongside other Indian dishes or as the vegetable dish for any meal. This would pair nicely with roast chicken, for example.

A note about fresh curry leaves: You should be able to find fresh curry leaves in your local Asian market. You’ll have to buy more than you need for a single recipe, but you can freeze the ones you don’t use. (Other ingredients for Asian cuisine I keep in my freezer include lime leaves, chopped lemongrass, galangal root, turmeric root, and ginger root.) For this recipe, I have in the past used fresh cilantro instead of curry leaves, so that is another option if you can’t find curry leaves.

A note about cauliflower: Remember that the thick stalk is every bit as flavorful and nutritious as the florets (same for broccoli). Use a sharp knife to remove the stalk’s tough exterior layer, then slice the interior of the stalk into the size pieces you need.

(Seraphina has had some more adventures, so scroll down for a cat update.)

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, about 1 ¼ pounds after trimming—separate the florets and trim and coarsely chop the stalk

• 1 cup chopped scallions, using both the green and white parts

• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1/3 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)

• ¼ cup neutral tasting oil, such as sunflower

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh curry leaves or cilantro

• Sea salt to taste

When you prepare the cauliflower, don't neglect the stalk—trim it, chop it, and it to the florets. At top right, chopped scallions and curry leaves; bottom right, ground turmeric; bottom center, clockwise from top: black mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds.

When the cauliflower is soft, it is time to add the green stuff—scallions and curry leaves (or cilantro).

Directions:

• Heat the oil in large sauté pan

• When the oil is hot, add the black mustard, cumin, and fennel seeds (have the pan’s lid ready to partially cover the pan, as the seeds will sputter and pop in the hot oil)

• Let the seeds sputter and pop for about 10 seconds, then add the turmeric and cauliflower pieces

• Stir the cauliflower pieces until they are evenly coated with the oil and spices

• Add the water, salt, and chopped scallions; mix; and cover with the lid

• Cook about 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender

• Uncover and mix in the chopped curry leaves or cilantro and cook, uncovered, for a few minutes to evaporate excess liquid in the pan

• Ready to serve!

Cat update: Bath Time!

Seraphina had a bath, the first we’ve given her in the 10 years she’s been with us. In the photo, you’ll see her looking very wet, even after towel drying.

Normally, there’s no need to bathe a cat. Cats are literally self-cleaning. But there were extenuating circumstances related to our most recent road trip. On the ride to South Carolina from DC, Seraphina started off in her cage, as I described in a previous post, but this time it didn’t go so well.

We’d barely hit the expressway before the odor filled the car; Seraphina had defecated and urinated in her cage. She was covered in it, and she was angry and upset. So we found a truck stop where we do a rudimentary cleaning of the cage, wipe Seraphina down using whatever we could find (my fleece jacket played a role), and then continue our 8-hour drive with a smelly cat.

Fortunately our new house has a deep laundry sink we could plunge Seraphina when we arrived. Seraphina wasn’t thrilled by the dunking, but she didn’t freak out too badly, and we got the stench cleaned off her. After which, Seraphina showed off her new hairdo. She was totally fine afterwards.