I had a spare cauliflower in dire need of use so thought I’d do a first run and test on a simpler one-pot, hands-off oven baked aloo gobi. That’s a mild potato and cauliflower curry to the uninitiated outside India or too distant from a good take away joint. By using the whole head and baking it in the oven, it’s really fire and forget fare in under a casual hour. I thought I’d also try coconut milk for this permutation which worked great but strangely, didn’t leave much coconut-ty flavour. I might have to get a better brand or even switch to coconut cream + water on the next test. The single sweet potato that disintgrates into the sauce worked as intended as did the roasted lemon halves. Tinker at will and report back with your best street food twists.
Whole Cauliflower Coconut Aloo Gobi
Serves 3-4 as a main course
1 whole head cauliflower, leaves removed and stalk trimmed *
1 medium sweet potato (~250g), peeled and cut into 2-inch dice
3 tablespoons neutral oil (coconut, canola, etc.)
2 tablespoons whole brown mustard seed
3 inches fresh ginger root, peeled & minced
4-6 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
chiles to taste **
398 ml (usually one tin) coconut milk
500g small white potatoes, cut into 3-inch irregular chunks ***
1 whole lemon, washed then halved
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
coriander leaf, plain yogurt, & toasted almond slices (or even freshly toasted coconut?) to garnish
flatbreads (mmmm, buttered naan) or rice for serving
* Cauliflower leaves can be trimmed, tossed with oil, seasoned, and roasted in a single layer until crisp and delicious as a bonus.
** Most any chiles available will work to suit your heat preference. A single *whole, uncut* habanero adds good flavour with little heat. Other chiles from mild to blazing can be used whole or minced. If no fresh are available dried red chile flakes can be substituted modestly.
*** I prefer to leave the peel on with clean scrubbed examples for texture.
Method:
Preheat oven to 175c/350f.
Steam (or pressure cook for 1-2 minutes) the cauliflower head and sweet potatoes until nearing knife tender but do not cook completely. Drain well. Note that the sweet potato will almost completely break apart during baking. If you prefer you can skip steaming them prior to adding to the dish for a more intact texture.
In an oven-safe Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-low heat, warm the oil then add the mustard seed, ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Sauté just until fragrant and the mustard seeds begin to pop, about two minutes but watch carefully on your unique stovetop. Add the chiles to the hot oil for thirty seconds then add the coconut milk, raise heat to medium, and simmer five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste remembering the volume of vegetables being used.
Add the sweet and white potatoes then rest the cauliflower head atop them to encourage roasting on all sides. Add the lemon halves face up to the heat. Baste all with the sauce and move to the oven, uncovered, and bake until the white potatoes are knife tender, the sauce has thickened, and the top of the cauliflower has coloured well, anywhere from 25-40 minutes depending on your oven and size cauliflower. Baste all occasionally during cooking adding small amounts of water if necessary to prevent scorching until the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, then squeeze the roast lemon halves over the top of the cauliflower discarding the peels.
Garnish with coriander, yogurt, & almonds as desired. Serve with fresh flatbreads or rice but include plenty of the sauce on every plate.
Texture is very much at its best just after baking but any (rare) leftovers would be ideal filling for samosas or dosas the next day. –th v.1.4
