Cauliflower Koottu

We're not huge cauliflower fans at this house. We don't dislike it either....we all like it...just not huge fans. So, when it comes in the CSA box I need to think about how to use it in a way that most of us will be happy. I have found that a cookbook by some local women, Healthy South Indian Cooking, is a good resource when I have an abundance of some type of produce yet want something a bit different. These women are really local...they live on my friend's street in our little suburb.

In the past I have gone to an Indian grocery store to get the ingredients for some of the recipes in this book, but now, being a bit more pressed for time, I just omit anything I don't have. It seems that if you aren't too stingy on the salt and the oil these all turn out just fine.

Many of the recipes in this book end up tasting a bit of the same which is probably because I'm not purchasing all the ingredients. But, it's a good way to get out of a cooking rut...trying some of these dishes.

The original recipe calls for toor dal(I used lentils), asafoetida powder, curry leaves, and urad dal. I left out all of those ingredients except the substitution noted. This may be a case where I like mine only because I have never had the original, but I think that's OK. I'm happy with what I made and we got the cauliflower in our bodies.

Bring 4 c water to a boil. Add 1/2 c lentil and 1/4 t turmeric. Reduce heat and cook about 30 minutes or so..until it becomes creamy.
Heat:
2 T oil in saucepan. Add 1 t mustard seeds. cover and cook until they burst. Add 1/4 c chopped onions, 1 T minced ginger, 1/4 t turmeric and 1 t chopped chile pepper(from our garden...yay).
Add cauliflower cut into 1" chunks. Blend well.
Add lentil mixture, 1/2 t cumin powder, and 1/2 t salt.
Cover and cook over low heat until cauliflower is tender.
Add 1 T unsweetened coconut.
I had some grilled potatoes leftover from another meal, so I chopped those and threw them into the mixture. There's something about potatoes and curry that I really like when they're together.

Serve over rice with mango chutney.

I wouldn't say that we LOVED this recipe but it certainly was fine for one dinner. I admit that we went out for frozen yogurt that night with a recent groupon purchase. The place we went probably won't be repeated....and this recipe won't be repeated...but none of it was terrible either. Probably next time I will go back to cauliflower cheese soup when I get some in the CSA box...just thinking that all the vegetables in it will balance out the cheese a bit.

Follow the link if you're wondering what koottu means!


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