Friday, October 12, 2012

Indian Fix

I LOVE Indian food.  It is a great culture to experiment with culinary wise for vegetarians.  The basis of most dishes are legumes which contain tons of protein and other healthy stuff we miss by not eating meat.  Tonight I made a Simple Lentil recipe from Anupy Singla's cookbook The Indian Slow Cooker.  It was delicious and one of the easiest dishes I've made in a long time.  If you love Indian food but don't always have the time to cook it, this cookbook is for you. 

In addition to my slow cooked lentils I made spicy roasted cauliflower.  This recipe is inspired by a curry cauliflower dish that I get at Whole Foods.

Spicy Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower (broken into 1in florets)
1/2 red onion (diced)
1 1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tbls chili powder
1/2 tbls cumin
3/4 tsp garam marsala
3 tbls olive oil
1 tbls minced garlic
1/2 cup veggie stock
salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oil, cayenne, chili powder,salt, pepper, and cumin over medium heat for about 2 minutes (or until you can smell the spices).
Add the red onion and garlic to the oil and saute for about 2 more minutes.  You want the onion to start to break down, it will begin to get translucent and soften.  Stir often to make sure the spices don't burn.
Once the onion has become fragrant add the veggie stock and cauliflower.  I added some salt and pepper to this step as well.  You want to continue to stir the cauliflower to make sure that the cauliflower gets coated with the onion/stock/spice mixture. 
Saute the cauliflower for about 3 minutes.  Once the cauliflower has started to soften mix in the garam marsala. 


In true Southern fashion I enjoy spicy food.  My Yankee family may think something they have made is spicy enough and I reach for the hot sauce.  These spicy cauliflower may be too spicy for you, or may not be spicy enough.  Adjust the seasoning to your liking!  The cayenne and chili powder give them a bit of heat, the cumin adds a little depth, and the garam marsala finishes everything off with a nice smokey flavor.

Take one of your favorite store bought recipes and recreate it at home! You can make everything according to your taste preferences and save a bunch of money along the way!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Web Analytics