WHOLE BAKED CAULIFLOWER

(GOBHI MUSSALAM)

: Edited: This was one of my recipes which were selected and published in the local Newspaper here on 7th November 2014.

In Indian cuisine, different kinds of curries and dry subzi are made out of cauliflower florets and they are also used in some rice preparations.

The Mughals ruled India for a very long time. The dishes that were prepared in Mughal kitchens for the emperors were called Mughlai cuisine. Many recipes and many names of the dishes from Mughlai cuisine are still common and famous in some northern states of India like Punjab, Delhi and U.P. Mughlai cuisine is famous for rich, creamy and aromatic curries, rice preparations and sweet dishes. Mussalam word is also derived from the Mughlai cuisine, which means whole, in this recipe, the whole cauliflower is cooked and baked.

I remember once I was in a remote area of Kenya, Africa, where there was only a Boarding School with teachers houses and a few shops. At that time, we were going to the nearest city once a month to buy Indian groceries and vegetables. Cauliflower was the one vegetable which we were buying in bulk because of its use in multiple recipes in my kitchen.

Later my husband started growing vegetables in our kitchen garden. We had a big kitchen garden, moreover, the equatorial climate of Kenya is very good for growing fruits and vegetables. It is considered to be the best climate of the world because it is neither cold nor hot. In an equatorial climate, sunlight is in plenty and rainfall is after every second day. He got success in growing almost all the vegetables including cauliflower and we had not only stopped buying them from the city, but we were taking surplus vegetables from our garden back to the city to our friends there.
My mother-in-law was drying cauliflower florets in the sun and using them later in the summer. In her times, vegetables were available in seasons only, and for cauliflower, winter was the season in India. When she was using those florets in summer in her recipes, very different taste and aroma were coming from the dried cauliflower. These days because of modernization and improvement in transport and communication all vegetables are available throughout the year everywhere, or we can use them frozen.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole cauliflower (medium size)
• 300 grams onion (2 big)
• 500 grams tomatoes (3 big)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2 green chillies (Optional)
• Few leaves of green coriander/cilantro leave for garnishing
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt and chilli powder to taste
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 2 green cardamom
• 50 grams roasted cashew nuts
• 100 ml fresh cream/whipping ceam
• 3 tbs oil
• 200 grams grated mozzarella cheese

METHOD

• Chop the leaves and stem of the cauliflower and wash.
• Put it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, it will become slightly tender but still crunchy. Leave it aside.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan, add cumin seeds and roast for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped onion and garlic and saute till brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and saute for 6-8 minutes till tomatoes are soft, add cumin powder, coriander powder, salt, chilli powder, and cardamom.
• Remove the pan from the gas and add garam masala and cashew nuts, leave it to cool.
• When cold, make a paste in the blender of this mixture, take it out of the blender and add cream in it.
• In a round baking dish, keep the whole cauliflower in the middle of the tray, and pour the thick paste on top and on sides. Decorate with green coriander.
• Heat the oven to 200 degrees C, keep the cauliflower in the oven for 10-15 minutes till the colour of the mixture is darker.
• Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the cauliflower and leave it in the oven for 2-3 more minutes so that cheese can melt.
• Cut and make slices of the cauliflower, serve hot with roti, nan or dinner bun.
• This can be served to 5-6 people.

I am sending this recipe as a link to the event.
And also for Bake of the week event and also for Tasty Tuesday event and for Meatless Monday event, and with Tasty Tuesday honest mom, and with Fantastic Friday,and with Foodie Friday and with Friday Free for all, and with Happy healthy and green blog hop, and with Fiesta Friday, with yum yum link party, and with My two fav things on Thursday, and with Way wow link party and Cook blog share 

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