Serves
4 as a starter
Cooking time
30 mins
Ingredients
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 onion, sliced
knob of butter
half tsp each ground cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, ground ginger, cardamom seeds
Batter:
100ml milk
pinch of saffron threads
160g gram flour
1 egg, beaten
oil for deep-frying
Method:
Put the cauliflower in a frying pan with 100ml water, the onion, knob of butter and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and leave to cook. When the water has evaporated, add the spices and let them cook out with the cauliflower and onion, making sure everything is well coated. Leave to cool.
Warm the milk in a pan and add the saffron. Take off the heat then add a good pinch of salt and some black pepper. When it has cooled a bit, add the egg and the gram flour. Mix to make a batter and then add in the cauliflower mixture. Mix well but carefully, so the cauliflower doesn’t break up too much.
Fill a wok or large pan one-third full with oil. When hot, drop in tablespoons of the cauliflower batter and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning regularly until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.
These are good served just with some salad and a wedge of lemon. Alternatively, you could make a yogurt dip – mix some natural yogurt with a squeeze of lemon, chopped cucumber, chopped fresh mint and coriander.