Aloo Gobi

October 29, 2006

The 99 cent cauliflowers were too good to resist at the market the other day so I brought one home and looked in my new Grower’s Market cookbook for inspiration. And there it was, Aloo gobi, a nice vegetarian curry using potatoes and cauliflower.

I learned in the chapter notes that cauliflower originated in Asia Minor and was originally cultivated by the ancient Romans around 600BC. I wonder if Roman mothers had difficulty getting their kids to eat brassica, too? Anyway, it remained an almost exclusively Italian vegetables until the 1600s when it became somewhat fashionable in France for a brief period. From there its use spread to Northern Europe and the United Kingdom where it flourished.

Speaking of Roman food, I looked in The Roman Cookery of Apicius, a compilation of Roman and classical Greek cooking.  The two manuscripts ascribed to Apicius were written in the Latin of the late fourth and early fifth centuries AD and give a glimpse of how food was prepared then.

Cauliflower is cooked with cumin, salt, aged wines and olive oil. “If you like add pepper, lovage, mint, rue, coriander, and the leaves of young stalks, and [cook in] stock, wine and oil.”                     .

I’ve used a similar recipe for several years, Cauliflower Italien http://cookingdownunder.com/courses/vegetables/rv081.htm.

The recipe for Aloo Gobi calls for the use of a whole large cauliflower. I used half that amount but did add some small chunks of pumpkin to the potatoes.

Aloo Gobi

3 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 onion finely chopped
200g potatoes cut into 2cm cubes
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 large cauliflower cut into florets
2cm piece of ginger
1 teaspoon sugar

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over low heat. Add the mustard seeds, cover the pan and wait for the seeds to pop. Add the onion and potato and fry until lightly browned.

Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and garam masala to the pan and cook for a couple of seconds. Add the tomato and stir until the spices are well mixed. Add the cauliflower florets and stir until thoroughly coasted. Stir in the ginger, sugar and 125ml water, increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Uncover the pan and if the sauce is too runny, simmer for a further 1-2 minutes before serving.

I served this with small crisp pappadums, some persimmon chutney and an eggplant achar.

Recipe ©Murdoch Books 2006 Photo ©Pat Churchill

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