Easy Cauliflower Potato Curry ~ Gujarati style Gobi Aloo Curry ~ Cauliflower batata nu shaak ~ With Stepwise pictures

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Some of the curries or dishes that I try in my kitchen are ideas that I get from family or friends and sometimes I get the ideas from friends of my family :)  The latter is applicable in this instance :)  I got the idea for this cauliflower curry from my sister in law Anu, who in turn got it from her Gujarati friend. She tried and liked it and mentioned it to me one day. I promptly wrote it down and gave it a try myself...... and I loved it.

The ingredients in this curry are somewhat similar to the ones used in other onion tomato gravy curries, yet adding the tomatoes at the end makes a difference to the texture and taste of the gravy. It has a very light and fresh taste and this curry tastes amazing with some phulkas .  It has the typical combination that I see in so many Gujarati dishes, a little bit of tart, a little bit of  sweet and a little bit of heat. This quick and easy curry is perfect for quick weeknight dinners when you do not want to fuss with something more elaborate, and yet want something nutritious, low fat, healthy and tasty :)

If you are looking for curries with either cauliflower or potatoes or a combination of the two, check out
Punjabi Aloo Gobi
Potato Kara Curry ~ Spiced potato curry
Potato Masala Curry
Cauliflower/ Gobi gravy curry ~ Patal bhaji

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Ingredients and Method to make Cauliflower Potato curry
4 cups of cauliflower florets (about 1/2 a head of cauliflower/ gobi )
2 cups of potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (5 medium potatoes/aloo/urilakizhangu)
1 cup of tomatoes cut into small pieces (4 medium tomatoes/tamatar/thakkali)
1 red onion cut fine (pyaaz/vengayam)
1 Tbsp oil
3/4 tsp mustard seeds (rai/sarson/kadagu)
3/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/manjal podi)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder/jeeragam podi)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder/kothamalli virai podi)
3/4 tsp red chili powder (or to taste) (lal mirch/ molaga podi)
1/2 tsp sugar (shakkar/sakkarai)
salt to taste

3 to 4 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro for garnish (coriander leaves/ hara dhania/ kothamalli)

Prep the vegetables. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter add cumin seeds.

When the cumin seeds sizzle add onions and saute until the onions turn translucent.

Add potatoes and cauliflower, a little bit of salt and turmeric powder and stir well. Lower heat, add a little water, cover with a lid and allow the potatoes and cauliflower to cook until soft. Stir a few times in between to ensure even cooking.

Once the cauliflower and potatoes are cooked and soft, add tomato pieces, cumin powder, coriander powder, chili powder, sugar and adjust salt to taste and allow to cook until the tomatoes are soft. Add water as required to achieve required consistency.
 

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with phulkas/ Indian flat bread.

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Punjabi Aloo Gobi (Potato Cauliflower curry)

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Can you believe it is June already ?? It seems like just yesterday that we were wishing everyone for the start of the year and doing the annual "what's your resolution for the new year" thingy and here we are, half the year is almost gone !!   When I think of all the things I want to get done this year, I wish I could get 48 hours in each day so that I could get more done...............sigh :-(     Since that's not happening, let me move onto something that always manages to cheer me up, at least a little :)

Aloo gobi is a classic, simple curry from north Indian cuisine that is as versatile as it is delicious. Aloo= Potatoes, Gobi= Cauliflower, so literally aloo gobi just means potatoes and cauliflower, but this deceptively simple term, in my opinion, does not do justice to this curry.  This is an incredibly flavorful curry, whether you serve this with a north Indian themed menu, or just with phulkas/ rotis (Indian flat bread), or use this curry in a wrap or just enjoy a bowlful of curry on it's own, this curry is unfailingly yum :) So give it a try and let me know what you think :)



Oh and one last thing before I go........ the answer to the riddles I posed in last weeks post are towel for the first one and postage stamp for the second. Kara, Suja, Sandy and Vani, please take a bow, you all got either one or both the answers right :)

Okay so I'm off now, let me see if I can make a dent to the work load I mentioned earlier, will see you all soon with another post :) 



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Ingredients and Method to make Aloo Gobi
1 medium head cauliflower, washed thoroughly and broken into medium florets (yielded approx 4 and 1/2 cups of florets)
3 large potatoes washed, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (yielded approx 3 cups of cut pieces)
1 large red onion cut fine
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut fine (or to taste) 
1 thin sliver of ginger minced (about 1/2 tsp minced ginger)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (or to taste)  (can be substituted with any other curry powder)
my recipe for garam masala can be found here
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (optional)
1/4 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
salt to taste

For garnish
Juice of half a lemon (or to taste)
3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) 

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds, when the cumin begins to sizzle add onion and saute until onion becomes transparent.

Then add ginger, garlic and green chilies and stir a few times. Add all the spices except salt and stir a few times. Add potatoes, salt to taste and mix well. Then sprinkle a few drops of water, close with a lid and allow the potatoes to cook just a little, just about a couple of mins or so.
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Then add cauliflower florets, mix thoroughly until each floret is coated with a bit of the spice mix, sprinkle a few drops of water if required, close with a lid and allow to cook for a few mins. Stir a few times and close and cook until the florets and potatoes are cooked, yet firm.

Garnish with lemon juice and cilantro, mix well and remove from heat.

Serve hot with any north Indian themed meal, or with phulkas/ rotis or use this curry in a wrap, it tastes pretty awesome in a wrap :)

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Cauliflower Curry ~ Phool Gobi chi Bhaji ~ Maharashtrian style Gobi

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Isn't it amazing how so many of our childhood memories are tied to food? I commonly see this occurrence, when a family gathers together and start reminiscing about the past, inevitably the conversation seems to stray into food territory and some times the conversation becomes about which foods were served when we were younger and how it was served. One such food that brings back memories of my school days is this patal bhaji, a curry made with cauliflower with a combination of other vegetables. 

Usually I have noticed that each home has their own version of preparing particular kind of curries. Surprisingly this is one of the rare curries where I find that both my mother and my mother in laws version of this curry is similar with very slight variations.I remember when my mother used to make this when I was younger, she usually made it to go with phulkas ( a type of Indian bread) and I would be inordinately happy to see this on my plate. I used to play this silly game when I bit into each cauliflower floret, I used to imagine the cauliflower floret to be a tree and say things like " I am biting the tree trunk or biting the tree top" depending on which part of the floret I was biting into...... ah the silly and fun times we had when we were children, can any other phase compare with those carefree days?

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Ingredients and Method to make Cauliflower Medley Gravy Curry

1 large onion (cut fine) (pyaaz/ vengayam)

3 small tomatoes (cut fine)

1 large green bell pepper de seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (capsicum/ simla mirch)

1/2 head of cauliflower (broken into florets)

1 cup green peas (fresh or frozen) If using fresh see notes.

2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/ manjal podi)

salt to taste (namak/ Uppu)

1 tsp red chilli powder (or according to taste) (lal mirch)

1/2 tsp sugar (shakkar) 
1/4 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder) (optional)
1/4 tsp Coriander powder (dhania powder) (optional)

2 heaped tsp chick pea flour (besan/ kadalai maavu) mixed with 2-3 tsp of water (see notes)

Seasoning

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ kadagu)

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam)

Garnish

handful cilantro/ coriander leaves/ hara dhania/ kothamalli (cut fine)

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add mustard seeds to it, when mustard seeds start to splutter add cumin seeds to it.

When cumin seeds sizzle add cut onions and stir them until the onions turn transparent.

Add tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes turn mushy and soft. Add turmeric powder, stir a couple of times. 

Add all the vegetables, salt, chili powder, cumin and coriander if using and about 2 cups of water and let the vegetables cook until soft but not mushy.

Finally add the chick pea flour + water, add more water if required to achieve desired consistency and let the mixture simmer for a few minutes. Adjust salt and spices if required at this point.

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with phulkas or plain steamed rice or any other type of roti (Indian flat bread)

Notes

The gravy for this curry is not meant to be very thick and creamy, so only 2 tsp of chick pea flour (besan) has been used for this quantity of curry, if you want yours thicker or creamier you could double the quantity of chick pea flour (or use your judgement) to get a thicker consistency.

If you are using fresh green peas, boil in a separate pan until soft then add to the curry. 

You can also add in 1/4 head of cabbage cut into small pieces and/ or 2 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces in addition to or in place of potatoes

If you are looking for cauliflower recipes, here are a few more 

Cauliflower batata nu shaak ~ Gujarati style Cauliflower curry

Punjabi Aloo Gobi ~ Cauliflower and potato curry

Cauliflower cabbage poriyal ~ South Indian style Cauliflower curry

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