Sesame Cauliflower

Inspired by something I tasted in a Lebanese restaurant, here's a rich, creamy and indulgent recipe for a favorite veggie, the cauliflower. It was a favorite of Nanu, my late grandfather, who loved to eat deep fried caluliflower florets as a side and despaired when his grandson would insist on snatching some off his plate! The crisp well-roasted bits that you can see in this picture are my way of channeling a bit of his memory into this recipe.

I used:

• 1.5 cup of blanched cauliflower florets
• 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp tahina (sesame paste)
• 0.5 tsp sweet chilli flakes
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1.5 tsp lime juice
• minced parsley and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for garnish

Method

• Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick pan
• Add the cauliflower florets and a little salt; cook on medium high
• Roast the florets till the heads are mostly crisp and reddish brown
• Add the tahina, salt, pepper and chilli flakes
• Cook for 5 min and take the pan off the heat
• Add the lime juice followed by the parsley and EVOO

Serve hot and enjoy!

Oats Khichdi and Sweet Potato and Spring Onion Bhaji

Here's a quick meal to prepare when one is tired and in need of some comfort food (and doesn't want to go entirely overboard on calories). This is one of the first meals I prepared for my wife, late one evening once I was back from office. She loved it!

Oats Khichdi
I dislike eating oats the way most people have them for breakfast. I enjoy the texture of oats but I find the look and smell of boiled oats decidedly unappetising, no matter how much one up a bowl of the stuff with fruits, honey etc. Not - for - me. So, taking a leaf out of my mom's book, I came up with this way of eating oats, that I find much much nicer.

I use:

• Plain white oats, 2 cups
• Boiled yellow lentils - 2 cups
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 tsp turmeric 
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 large bay leaf
• 2-3 pepper corns
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves (minced) for garnish

Method:

• In a deep dish, heat the ghee.
• When it is nice and hot, add the cinnamon, bay leaf, pepper corns and cumin seeds
• When the cumin seeds turn a deep red, add the oats, followed by the turmeric powder and mix everything nicely. let this cook for 2-3 min while you stir every 20-30 seconds
• Add a cup of water and bring the mix to boil
• Add the lentils and salt to taste
• Mix everything well and bring to a boil. Stir every 2-3 minutes so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan
• When the mix becomes nice and thick - suited to your preferences, take the dish of the heat and let it cool a bit. 
• Add the coriander garnish, and ladle onto plates
• put a tsp of ghee on top for a little more taste (optional)
• Eat hot with the sweet potato and spring onion bhaji (fries)

Sweet Potato and spring onion fries

I use:

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced into long pieces. 
• 10-12 stalks of spring onion - preferably those that have flowered (because they turn a little sweet), cut into long pieces, roughly equal in size. Discard the white parts for this recipe
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1.5 tbsp mustard oil
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste

Method:

• In a big frying pan, heat the mustard oil
• Once it is hot, add the cumin seeds
• When the seeds splutter a bit, add the sweet potatoes and mix so that the oil coats the pieces evenly
• Add the turmeric and cayenne pepper and mix again. Spread them out evenly in the pan. 
• Cook for 5 min on high heat
• Add the spring onions
• Cook till the spring onions reach the texture you prefer. I like them well done. 
• Test the potatoes. If your spatula breaks a piece easily, they are done. 

Enjoy this with the oats khichdi and a little fresh salad of any kind.

If you make it, let me know what you think! :)