A simple Indian cauliflower, pea, and coconut curry that is rich with warm spices.
Maybe this is a pantry meal if you happen to have an Indian supermarket embedded in your kitchen?
Actually, I do. Practically.
To be fair, the only truly non-pantry item in this is the cauliflower and I just happened to have a head of it lurking in the back of my refrigerator this weekend. We are really in NO WASTE mode particularly so that we can never leave our apartment again, so obviously I had to find a way to use it up. Governor’s orders.
This also helped me use up my mega stash of Indian spices, a few onions, frozen peas, a can of coconut milk, and a bag of cashews. Win win win win win!
The spices in this are actually nothing too out of the ordinary so in all likelihood, if you’re someone who cooks somewhat often, then you probably already have them. And if not, feel free to just substitute in some curry powder! These are desperate times and no one would fault you. And the same goes for the veggies! Use what you’ve got. It will all be fine.
- 1¾-inch piece of chopped ginger, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 green chili, seeded and roughly chopped
- salt, to taste
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ tsp ground coriander
- 1¼ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 large head of cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
- 1½ cups coconut milk
- 4 oz unsalted cashews
- ½ cup peas
- ½ tsp garam masala
- lemon
- basmati rice, cooked according to package directions
- Combine the ginger, garlic, chili, and a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle or food processor. Grind to a paste and set aside.
- Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and just starting to brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add in the tomato paste, ground coriander, cumin, chili powder, and 1¼ tsp salt. Stir to mix.
- Add the cauliflower florets to the pan and toss so that they are evenly coated with the spices. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining tbsp of oil in a separate pan over medium heat. Add the cashews and fry until golden, about a minute per side. Remove to a plate to cool.
- Once the cauliflower is tender, add the peas and garam masala. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Season to to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Serve the cauliflower curry on a bed of rice topped with the cashews and a squeeze of lemon juice.
I think I have everything BUT the cauliflower!
Joanne, I don’t normally ask these kind of questions, so apologies in advance! I don’t have fresh cauliflower, but I bought a big bag of frozen last week. I have never cooked with frozen cauliflower. Do you have any experience with it, and if so, do you think I could use frozen instead? This sounds so good that I might have to try it even if you don’t have any experience. Thank you!!
I don’t have a ton of experience with it, but I think you absolutely could use it here! It might need less cooking time than the recipe suggests because I think it is usually pre-steamed, so I would just keep that in mind.
Thanks! I’ll let you know the results.
Joanne, I didn’t ever use the frozen cauliflower for this. But I finally made it with fresh. I used an entire can of coconut milk and doubled the peas. It is mild but delicious!
YUM! Love the textures and ingredients in this curry. It looks so tasty. I hope all is well.
Prepared this tonight. It was delicious. I added chicken. We loved it.