Roasted Cauliflower with Punjabi Seasonings | Madhur Jeffrey

Roasting vegetables is best in any season because you can leave the oven to do the job. Meanwhile you have the option to remove yourself from any potential heat source, no grill nor stovetop. Imagine, no sweating in those scorching hot days — to allow the cool mind to prevail. In fact, that works for any day! I like this recipe even better when the oven time takes only 30 minutes. Forgo the long roasting time sometime exceeding one hour, which I often do, for blackening the exterior while softening the interior of a whole cauliflower.

I don’t want to promote an idea, or a cooking method, without detailing the finer points. There are no best methods — only tradeoffs. Here the roasting time is abbreviated when the cauliflower florets (cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces) are marinated in lemon juice, turmeric, grated fresh ginger, other spices, herbs, and seasonings for two hours. In the interim, the cauliflower pieces become tender and ready to finish cooking in a searing hot oven. This is not a method I’ve done before; I’m surprised the resulting vegetables are as tasty and tender as they are. We should have this two-step marinate-roast combination in our vegetarian cooking repertoire.

Punjab is located in the Northern India national capital region of New Delhi. For vegetable dishes, they call for flavor ingredients such as: onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and the basic spices, which include cumin, coriander and fenugreek. In addition, many recipes use a copious amount of butter to add richness.

Serve the roasted cauliflower with a dish of chickpeas, or other dal dishes, flatbread, rice and a yogurt relish. A grain served with a vegetable and a dairy product, not only because they taste good together, but they make the meal nutritionally complete.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Punjabi Seasonings | Madhur Jeffrey

Ingredients

• 1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets about 4 cm/1½ inches wide and 5 cm/2 inches long (about 675 g/1½ lb florets)
• FOR THE MARINADE:
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
• FOR THE FLAVORED OIL:
• 4 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds

Instructions

1

MARINATE THE CAULIFOWER: Put all the cauliflower florets in a large bowl. Combine the lemon juice, turmeric and ginger in a small bowl, then pour over the cauliflower. Add the salt, cayenne, ground spices and fresh coriander and mix well, using a plastic glove if preferred. Set aside for 2 hours, tossing now and then.

2

Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7.

3

MAKE CUMIN-FLAVORED OIL: Put the oil in a small frying pan and set over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the cumin seeds, let them sizzle for a few seconds, then pour the spiced oil over the cauliflower. Toss well. Spread out the cauliflower in a single layer in a large roasting tin.

4

ROAST THE CAULIFLOWER: Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn the pieces and roast for another 10–15 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Notes

Adapted from Vegetarian Indian, a Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey