Cauliflower Recipes | The Steaming Pot

Mixed Vegetable Pakoras

What do you do with an assortment of vegetables when the clock says snack-time? Make mixed vegetable pakoras, if you ask me. This pakora recipe does not demand exactness; take the broad template and switch around the veggies and/or quantities as you wish.

Not all experiments pass muster the first time. A few go through rounds of trials before they reach publicly sharable shape. A few are embarrassments best shelved forever (I’m thinking of you, curdled strawberry yogurt). Lachha gobhi paratha, I’m delighted to report, was a stupendous success from the word go.

A simple stir fry of potatoes and cauliflower elevated by the tadka of fenugreek seeds in mustard oil. Aloo gobhi bhujiya pairs well with pooris / parathas and stacks well in the lunchbox.

Step aside, kale. Cauliflower is the new veg-lebrity. How pleasing it is to discover that one’s tastes are in keeping with the times. I am a huge fan of gobhi sarson, this Indian-style mustard cauliflower dish.

Fenugreek leaves are in season. Homemade meals sparkle green with a fenugreek dish on the menu every day: methi parathas with imli chutney for Sunday brunch, methi chhole with jeera rice for the Monday lunchbox.

Make hay while the sun shines, they say. I make recipe replacements of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek) with fresh fenugreek while the greens are in lush supply. This is one such recipe: methi gobhi, a variant of gobhi kasoori methi (cauliflower with dried fenugreek) that uses fresh fenugreek instead of dry.

I like to balance bitter with a hint of sweet: some jaggery in methi chhole, sauteed pineapple on the side with curry leaf pulao. In this gobhi kasoori methi (cauliflower and dried fenugreek) recipe, I turn to dried cranberries for the balancing act. I love the result! Do you?