I ran out of excuses. I avoided cooking cauliflower till now this year. But when priced at one dollar, I couldn’t think of any more excuses and bought the fresh, big, Lilly white cauliflower from the local farmers market. Even though, it is available year round, Autumn is the season for cauliflower here in US, so the low price.
On my short list of vegetables, I am reluctant to cook, cauliflower occupies the number one spot. It’s unfortunate, but my brain, it doesn’t heart the brain-like cauliflower. Only way I can eat this vegetable is when combined and cooked with other vegetables and some sort of beans following my mother’s recipe. The only thing I did different this time from the original was, instead of dried peas, I used small red beans. Clean, colorful and full of flavor, this hearty stew is extra good with rice or chapatis.
Recipe:
Vegetables
1 fresh, small-sized cauliflower, trimmed and florets cut/separated
1 potato, and one carrot – peeled, and cut into bite sized cubes
1 onion – finely sliced lengthwise
6 ripe, juicy tomatoes – chopped
2 fistfuls of soaked red beans
(Peas, chickpeas or other types of beans also work)For Masala:
4 tablespoons of coconut powder (dry or fresh)
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
Small pieces of cinnamon and two cloves
Few sprigs of cilantro, small piece of ginger and two garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of red chilli powder
½ teaspoon of salt and turmeric
Take all the above in a blender, add half cup of water and puree them into smooth paste.
Heat one tablespoon of peanut oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat. Do the popu or tadka (toasting mustard seeds, cumin and minced garlic). Add the onion, fry it till golden. Add the cut tomatoes, increase the heat, cover and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes soften when pressed with the back of a spoon.
Because cauliflower can cook easily and when overcooked gives out unpleasant Sulfur smell, first add the cut potatoes, carrots and red beans to the tomato gravy. Cook them until they are almost tender fork, and then add the cauliflower florets to this mix. Add the masala paste and half cup of water. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Finally stir in the finely chopped cilantro and serve, either warm or at room temperature.
Cauliflower-Potato Curry (Aloo Gobi) with Chapaties ~ Our meal today.
That looks yummy indira…I avoid cooking CF as well.. I’ll try this…do u have to soak the red beans overnight??
This might sound silly…but can you write the way you make chapathi?? any tips for not getting a dried papad like chapathi… minutes after you take off the pan?? i’vw stopped making at home…we buy at the local store…
also what kind of mixer/grinder do you use for making masala paste in small quantities??(like the small ball u have in the picture??)
Comment by Aparna — November 10, 2005 @ 7:04 pm
indira, i was just wondering what to cook for garlic naan this evening, and as usual browsed thru ur site for some recipes.. and u had this recipe today .. i tried it and it was AWESOMMMMEE !!! but i just used 5 tomatoes instead of 8 ( what kinda tomatoes do u use the roma or plum ?? whats the diff )and channa instead of rajma .. i bet rajma wud have given this recipe a better taste .. thank u for the recipe… now its browsing thru ur site is a part of my daily routine 🙂
Comment by priya,ar — November 10, 2005 @ 7:42 pm
I don’t like cauliflower so much also. It is even worse than cabbage. I like to eat gobi at restaurants. Heard that they deep-fry them first and use. So I tried roasting them slightly in the oven and adding them- no problem of odor that way.
I also make cauliflower korma just like your recipe but without the beans. Love your ingredient shots and the small white bowls are so cute!
Comment by mika — November 10, 2005 @ 9:16 pm
Aparna.. Thanks! These small red beans expand just in 3 to 4 hours, soaked in warm water.
I will definitely post about chapati making one of these days. But I really don’t have any special tips. Mine is really very old fashioned. Just plain Golden Temple atta, salt and warm water. Resting the dough for about 30 to 60 minutes. That’s about it.
That’s sumeet small mixie jar. My friend, Jyothi, when she moved back to India, gave me the sumeet mixie and wet grinder.
Indian type of mixie is really the best out there to grind masalas and powders. Only problem is they cost a bit.:)
Priya..
garlic naan.. yum.
I buy both, roma and plum, again depending on their price that week. I prefer the plum and cherry tomatoes. This summer, I planted 6 cherry tomato plants in our backyard. Thanks to their crazy growth, lot of cherry tomatoes went into my recipes this year. I also never store tomatoes in the refrigerator. In my kitchen, I keep them in a basket and allow them to ripen naturally. That also make them cook faster and make them more juicy.
The beans I used are not rajma. They are small kidney beans called chori(click on the ingredient link). They are also sold as Red beans in American chain groceries. Check them out.
Mika.. Restaurant version of gobi manchuria is the best. I like their gobi aloo too, full of creamy sauce, yum! I miss our restaurant food somuch(no Indian restaurants here):)
Aren’t they cute! Small white bowls with rims are a set of 4, bought them last month at dollar store for one dollar. (you can see the full set in chana masala post) These dollar stores sometimes sell really good stuff.
Comment by Indira — November 11, 2005 @ 12:02 am
indira, iam sorry i thought it was rajma, i bought red chori beans ( thatta payir in tamil) but they looked kinda smaller than what u have in ur picture…good that u can grow vegetables in ur backyard…i stay in a apt so cant enjoy growing any kinda plant ..
and reg indian mixie – u get good ones for cheaper price now abt Rs.4000 to Rs.5000 and even grinders for abt Rs.4000 min..
and hey those are some deadly white bowls for just a DOLLA !!! i dont remember seein the first pic when i noted down the recipe.. but i goota tell ya thats a great pic.. the lighting is perfect.. i donno know if its u r ur husband taking those pics.. whoever it is can definetely can enhance photography skills and become a PRO !!!
Comment by priya,ar — November 11, 2005 @ 1:32 am
Wow! I havent tried Cauliflower with red beans yet (chori – cute name :-)). A must-try for me. Great pictures and awesome results Indira.
Would you believe this? – We used to purchase gobis for ‘Rs 1 per kg’ from the Kashmir’s local farmers market (I was living there for 3 years). We used to cook gobi in all different possibilities almost daily 🙂 This post of yours brought back all those wonderful memories and quite nostalgic 🙂 Cauliflower is considered to be the king of vegetables on that part of India.
Comment by VK Narayanan — November 11, 2005 @ 3:56 am
I love cauliflower so much, I steam it and eat it with just a spray of butter and a sprinkle of kosher salt, haha.
Lovely recipe, I’ve only made this the North Indian/Punjabi way so this is really a new and interesting alternative.
Comment by Jenn — November 11, 2005 @ 8:20 am
Priya…Those red beans ballooned like that, after 5 hours in water. Soaked ones do look like rajma, aren’t they?
I couldn’t resist adding the first photo as well. I liked it somuch. Photos on this blog are all taken by me only. For Vijay’s photos, I will always add his name.(or he might sue me, copyrights & everything) 🙂
VKN..Thanks.
I am sure you already know this curry.
Kashmir.. wow, that’s beautiful part of our country.I hope all your friends out there are safe and escaped the earthquake.
Jenn..Thanks.You should give it a try, I am sure you are going to like it. It’s almost similar to Punjabi way of cooking aloo ghobi, except I didn’t add any cream.
You are back from Dallas. Did you do Indian grocery shopping in Dallas?
Comment by Indira — November 11, 2005 @ 10:11 am
Gobi Aloo curry looks fantastic..
We will definitely try this next weekend..
Comment by ?????????? — November 11, 2005 @ 11:11 am
Indira- your photography skills are impressive. Do you mean the dry or gravy version of gobi manchuria? Both are tasty though. My dollar store never carries such great things it seems or may be I lack an eye for finding great deals.
I like to eat steamed cauliflower with some lemon juice, salt and pepper. But the cooking smell can drive you out of the house. Any suggestions, Indira or anyone on how to eliminate the odor?
Comment by mika — November 11, 2005 @ 11:44 am
Hey there Indira! I will certainly try this dish, it looks awesome!
Yes, I hit the Indian markets in Dallas (Richardson). I didn’t need too many things but I did pick up some Poha, a few spices to make Chicken Biryani and had some Vada Pav and Papdi Chaat at the snack corner. The only thing I missed was dhokla (so sad). It was a weekend filled with Indian, Vietnamese and Lebanese (semi-authentic) food, pure heaven.
Of course, I took virtually ZERO pictures. Ugh. I miss Dallas, I should move back, haha.
Mika – the only way to bypass that not-so-lovely steamed cauliflower smell, that I’m aware of, would be nose plugs, lol.
Comment by Jenn — November 11, 2005 @ 1:13 pm
First, as always, your photos are gorgeous!
Second, cauliflower, for me at least, is kind of like the tofu of vegetables. It doesn’t have a strong flavor on it’s own, so if you cook it up with lots of other things (many spices!), you get it’s benefits without actually noticing it.
And I love the way it cooks down; you can almost forget it’s there.
Comment by Stephanie — November 11, 2005 @ 3:29 pm
looks like a good vegetable curry to me. will definitely try it out
Comment by rokh — November 12, 2005 @ 8:55 am
indira do u have any tips for grinding poppy seeds to a fine paste, i tried this recipe again today.. but there was this same problem.. the poppy seeds would never grind finely, i always have this problem.
Indira says,
Priya, what I do is, first add poppy seeds to the mixer, add 4 or 5 drops of water and grind them for few minutes and then I will add other ingredients to this mix. I use sumeet mixie small jar, sometimes coffee grinder for this task. Hope this helps.:)
Comment by priya,ar — November 20, 2005 @ 12:44 am
thanx for the tips indira, i shall try this the next time. I use preethi small jar .
Comment by priya, ar — November 21, 2005 @ 4:00 pm
Hi Indira,do u have any tips for making chapatis soft.I normally add water,milk,banana and oil to atta and leave for about 4 to 5 hours before making chapatis but inspite of doing this they become hard after an hour.Do we need to add more oil?Please suggest on this.. thanku…….
Comment by kalyani — November 22, 2005 @ 1:58 am
hi indira
could you please post the recipe for gobi manchuri..me nd my husband really like this food..it will b great if u can post that recipe too.Thanku
Comment by sneha — January 8, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
Hi Indira,
I am newly married girl and I am learning recipes.
I like the chapatis which u make and ofcourse the actual recipe. The chapathis look puffy and nice. I like chapathis a lot. But whenever I try, they won’t come out good. So, could u post the recipe of ur kind of Chapathi,please.
Bye,
Comment by Rajeshwari — January 8, 2006 @ 11:39 pm
Hi Indira,
Recently came across this site and should say, wow to many many yummy & different recipes. Yr kitchen is becoming a part of mine too as I refer atleast every 3 days from yrs!!!
Thanks a lot and have a question using whole wheat flour for rotis. Can u tell me if I use American brand like King arthur, lanterman mill(the one you mentioned for making bread) mixing with golden temple to make roti?
I feel that golden temple does not contain wheat fully and hence this question.
Thanks and waiting for yr reply..
Indira replies…
Hello Rama… Thanks for your compliments.
I do often mix whole wheat flour with Golden temple atta. I like the resulting rotis. They turn out to be more rustic like the rotis made with flour that we grind it in neighbourhood flourmill back in India.
Buy a small packet of King Arthur brand whole wheat flour, mix it up with golden temple brand, experiment and see whether you like the results or not.
Thanks!
Comment by Rama — January 22, 2006 @ 9:34 am
Nice recipe. Tried it out and it came out great. The next thing I am going to try out from your cookbook is sweets. You have a good collection and I haven’t had these for a while now. Thank you and keep continuing the good work.
Comment by Raghuveer Dhone — June 4, 2006 @ 9:46 pm
Hello Indira I have never met you, but I work in Boardman and live in Howland which is 20 minutes away.Your site is very impressive . My brother who lives n Chicago logs on to ur site frequently
Padmaja
Indira replies:
Hi Padma, I am so happy to meet a fellow Youngstown Indian through my blog. I live in Boardman, near Sams Club area.
Thanks for your nice words about my blog.
My email is mailmahanandi@gmail.com. Contact me, if you are interested, so that we can get toghether sometime. Thanks Padma.
Comment by padma duddella — July 15, 2006 @ 1:52 pm
Hello Indira,
The world is so small, after all. So, you do live in youngstown, OH. It is a strange coincidence that my roommate Murali Bhattar’s father works as a priest in the youngstown Swami Narayan Temple(Priest Ramachandra Bhattar). We are regular visitors to your blog, trying to pick up some new recipes.
Thanks,
Raghu
Comment by Raghuveer Dhone — July 31, 2006 @ 2:47 pm
hey Indira,
Now that I am into my 2nd trimester,I am as you can imagine ALWAYS hungry!I have just made this recipe and it has turned out just like my mom’s saagu recipe(from Karnataka!)..famously served with steaming hot, fluffy delivious idlis and coconut chutney!!
I have made soo much today that i am going to try this with both dosa(as I dont have an idli maker:( ) and your chapatis.
Thanks a lot..and keep up the good work!
more power to u,
Savi
Comment by Savi — December 5, 2006 @ 12:38 pm
I just made this for lunch–It was so beautiful and delicious! Thank you very much!
Indira replies:
Glad to hear that, Mo. Thanks for letting me know.
Comment by Mo — December 18, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
[…] Tonight I made Indira’s Aloo Gobhi. All of the recipes I’ve tried of hers are fantastic. […]
Pingback by This Way to Oz » Blog Archive » Potato and Cauliflower Curry (Aloo Gobhi) — August 12, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
Hi,
This is a great recipe.The aloo gobhi came out very well and my husband loved it.
I had lots of canned black beans and i didnt have time to soak the red beans,so I just used it and it was delicious.
I have been trying out lots of recipes rom your site and many of them are simply awsome…like tomato pachadi..
Its just me and my husband as of now, so I scale the dishes down.
But could you also mention how many people it would serve approx,as it would help me cook when I have guests.
Once again thanks for the great recipes.
Anu Venkatesh
Columbia,SC.
Comment by Anu — September 22, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
[…] You know how it is sometimes. You prepare a new recipe, you like it so much, you have to make it again the next day. That’s what happened to me with cauliflower. I loved the gobi I prepared last weekend very much, I made it again today. This time, I also added few potatoes to the pot. The friendship between brain-like cauliflower and belly-like, comforting potatoes is legendary. The fragrant kasuri methi and the sweet golden raisins addition made this lovely friendship even more endearing to me. I can surely say that this is the best cauliflower curry I have ever made next to my amma’s recipe. Good use of cauliflower that’s in season. […]
Pingback by Why a Desi Blog, and Why Now? « Paisleys and Peacocks — December 3, 2007 @ 4:09 am
Hi Indira…
I live in UAE and Poppy seeds are banned here..dont know for what specific reason itz banned for..The recipe looks greats ..wanted to know if any alternate for poppy seeds can be used…
Thnx in advance
Regards
Comment by Faria — December 26, 2007 @ 12:23 am
Hi Indira,
Thank you for this lovely recipe with cauliflower. I made this curry today and it came out delicious. I live in Kuwait and as Faria said poppy seeds are banned here too, so I had to substitute them with cashewnuts. Can you suggest any other alternative to poppy seeds ?
Thanks again,
Hi Smitha,
Glad to read that you tried and found this recipe delicious. Thanks for taking time to let me know.
For poppy seeds, like you mentioned cashews make a good substitution and also coconut. But both of them are high calorie, so adjust the quantity to your liking.
Hope this helps.
-Indira
Comment by smitha — February 4, 2008 @ 11:27 pm
hi Indira,
I have tried this recipe out twice now and hubby and I both enjoy it and never complain if there are leftovers for the next day! 🙂
Just a minor thing, for the garlic, you mentioned to blend it and later you mention to add it with the tadka. I figured it was a typo? I tried it both ways, once blended and the second time added in the tadka. Both ways tasted delicious… 🙂
I am trying out the semya payasam tomorrow! mmmm..can’t wait!
Comment by Smitha — May 30, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Hi Indira,
I tried this receipe today, I replaced chori with green peas . This still came up really good.
Thanks for the receipe… 🙂
Comment by Babitha — April 22, 2010 @ 10:23 pm
Indira,
I love your website and photography so I recognized this picture when I saw it – I’m not sure its use is authorized (scroll down to cauliflower potato)
http://www.shalombombay.com/VegetarianSpecialsNYC.htm
Thanks for the amazing recipes!
Mansi
Comment by Mansi — May 15, 2010 @ 4:55 pm