Cauliflower Duo - Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" and Aloo Gobi
I've mentioned my vegi-phobia over the years, so I never thought that I'd make a post about THIS.
I remember my mom dipping cauliflower florettes into seasoned flour and then beaten egg before shallow frying them. I don't know what they tasted like, cause I never tried them. I HAVE had steamed cauliflower as part of the 'mixed veg' on my plate in restaurants, but they were soggy and flavourless. Not exactly something I ever wanted to replicate at home. But I recently ran across a spicy hot 'vegetarian' version of Buffalo chicken wings made with cauliflower florettes and couldn't resist trying it out. It's just a bit fiddly to prepare but crunchy enough to appeal texturally and with enough spice to satisfy anyone who likes things 'hot' hot.
The original recipe had a batter for the cauliflower made up of seasoned flour, milk and water, baked, turned and then basted with a hot sauce/melted butter. In the reviews, someone suggested adding the hot sauce to the batter itself as a substitute for some of the liquid. So that's what I did. Because the hot sauce is absorbed by the cauliflower, a little hot sauce goes a lot farther without any wasted. The heat sneaks up on you so you may not be aware of it until later. Just a word to the wise.
Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" - appetizer with a blue cheese and ranch dressing dip
Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" - serves 2 as a side dish
1/2 medium sized head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florettes (~400 gm, 4 cups)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping
Pre-heat your oven to 425-450 deg F depending on whether or not it runs hot.
Generously oil a baking sheet. Or, if you prefer to cut back on the fat, line the sheet with parchment paper.
Add salt, pepper and spices to the flour. Whisk in the hot sauce and water until you get a smooth batter. You may want to add a bit more water to thin the batter enough to coat the florettes evenly.
Spread the florettes evenly over the baking sheet, one layer thick, and bake for 20-25 min. Turn over each florette and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
Watch carefully as, at the higher temperature, that extra 5 minutes may result in burned bits.
Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Indian cooking is quite complex. There are regional and religious variations. And, of course, familial preferences. So, when I went searching for a recipe for this dish which combines potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (gobi), there were endless versions.
The first version I looked at used what many consider the Indian 'trinity' of onion, garlic and ginger paste ... which is often the base for a wet preparation or masala along with peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes. The second version omitted all three and focussed on toasted whole spices as well as the ground form to give the dish flavour ... in what was usually a dry preparation.
Prior preparation of the vegetables also varied. Potatoes and/or the cauliflower were sometimes parboiled or steamed separately until tender before adding them to the saute pan. Personal preference and convenience may dictate the method used.
The recipe below is my novice attempt at aloo gobi along with some variations. If you have leftover steamed cauliflower or baked potatoes, you can save yourself some work and use them instead of cooking everything from scratch.
Quick Aloo Gobi
Quick Aloo Gobi (Potato with Cauliflower) - serves 4 as a side dish
1 lb (400 gm) potatoes
1 lb (400 gm) cauliflower florettes
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 chopped green chile pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp chile powder**
1/2 tbsp ground turmeric
salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
** I used 1 tbsp mulato/chipotle pepper puree cause I had it around but you might want to just use ground red chile pepper.
NOTE: You can also use a paste made up of garlic (1-2 cloves), ginger (1 tbsp grated) and onion (1/2 medium size) as a base for this dish. For a wet dish, you might want to add a couple of peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes with their juices and a bit of water to make a sort of sauce that you can serve over basmati rice. For a heartier dish, peas and/or carrots may be added along with the cauliflower.
Par-boil the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for several minutes, until they begin to burst. Add the green chile (plus garlic, ginger, onion paste and pepper puree, if using) and fry for a few more minutes until the oil starts seeping away from the paste. (You're drying it out by doing this.)
Add the cauliflower florettes and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes. (I added about 1/4 cup of water and put the lid on at this point so the cauliflower would 'steam' cook and not burn.)
Add the potatoes, the ground spices and salt and cook for 7-10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. You'll probably need more salt than you think as the potatoes and cauliflower soak it up. (A splash of water will help dissolve the salt and help it get absorbed by the potatoes and cauliflower.) Taste both the vegetables.
Garnish the aloo gobi with coriander and serve with tomato and onion salad and pickle for an Indian menu.
I remember my mom dipping cauliflower florettes into seasoned flour and then beaten egg before shallow frying them. I don't know what they tasted like, cause I never tried them. I HAVE had steamed cauliflower as part of the 'mixed veg' on my plate in restaurants, but they were soggy and flavourless. Not exactly something I ever wanted to replicate at home. But I recently ran across a spicy hot 'vegetarian' version of Buffalo chicken wings made with cauliflower florettes and couldn't resist trying it out. It's just a bit fiddly to prepare but crunchy enough to appeal texturally and with enough spice to satisfy anyone who likes things 'hot' hot.
The original recipe had a batter for the cauliflower made up of seasoned flour, milk and water, baked, turned and then basted with a hot sauce/melted butter. In the reviews, someone suggested adding the hot sauce to the batter itself as a substitute for some of the liquid. So that's what I did. Because the hot sauce is absorbed by the cauliflower, a little hot sauce goes a lot farther without any wasted. The heat sneaks up on you so you may not be aware of it until later. Just a word to the wise.
Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" - appetizer with a blue cheese and ranch dressing dip
Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" - serves 2 as a side dish
1/2 medium sized head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florettes (~400 gm, 4 cups)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping
Pre-heat your oven to 425-450 deg F depending on whether or not it runs hot.
Generously oil a baking sheet. Or, if you prefer to cut back on the fat, line the sheet with parchment paper.
Add salt, pepper and spices to the flour. Whisk in the hot sauce and water until you get a smooth batter. You may want to add a bit more water to thin the batter enough to coat the florettes evenly.
Spread the florettes evenly over the baking sheet, one layer thick, and bake for 20-25 min. Turn over each florette and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
Watch carefully as, at the higher temperature, that extra 5 minutes may result in burned bits.
Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Indian cooking is quite complex. There are regional and religious variations. And, of course, familial preferences. So, when I went searching for a recipe for this dish which combines potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (gobi), there were endless versions.
The first version I looked at used what many consider the Indian 'trinity' of onion, garlic and ginger paste ... which is often the base for a wet preparation or masala along with peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes. The second version omitted all three and focussed on toasted whole spices as well as the ground form to give the dish flavour ... in what was usually a dry preparation.
Prior preparation of the vegetables also varied. Potatoes and/or the cauliflower were sometimes parboiled or steamed separately until tender before adding them to the saute pan. Personal preference and convenience may dictate the method used.
The recipe below is my novice attempt at aloo gobi along with some variations. If you have leftover steamed cauliflower or baked potatoes, you can save yourself some work and use them instead of cooking everything from scratch.
Quick Aloo Gobi
Quick Aloo Gobi (Potato with Cauliflower) - serves 4 as a side dish
1 lb (400 gm) potatoes
1 lb (400 gm) cauliflower florettes
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 chopped green chile pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp chile powder**
1/2 tbsp ground turmeric
salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
** I used 1 tbsp mulato/chipotle pepper puree cause I had it around but you might want to just use ground red chile pepper.
NOTE: You can also use a paste made up of garlic (1-2 cloves), ginger (1 tbsp grated) and onion (1/2 medium size) as a base for this dish. For a wet dish, you might want to add a couple of peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes with their juices and a bit of water to make a sort of sauce that you can serve over basmati rice. For a heartier dish, peas and/or carrots may be added along with the cauliflower.
Par-boil the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for several minutes, until they begin to burst. Add the green chile (plus garlic, ginger, onion paste and pepper puree, if using) and fry for a few more minutes until the oil starts seeping away from the paste. (You're drying it out by doing this.)
Add the cauliflower florettes and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes. (I added about 1/4 cup of water and put the lid on at this point so the cauliflower would 'steam' cook and not burn.)
Add the potatoes, the ground spices and salt and cook for 7-10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. You'll probably need more salt than you think as the potatoes and cauliflower soak it up. (A splash of water will help dissolve the salt and help it get absorbed by the potatoes and cauliflower.) Taste both the vegetables.
Garnish the aloo gobi with coriander and serve with tomato and onion salad and pickle for an Indian menu.