Cauliflower and potato curry

I have been making curry for years and this is a fabulous recipe. Technically I believe this should be called ‘Aloo Gobi’ which refers to the cauliflower.

Don’t be afraid to change the seasoning. I keep in about 40 different herbs and spices and regularly swap things about. I don’t have ‘curry powder’ as it is just a mix of other spices that I use anyway. If in doubt add less at the beginning and then top it up before serving once it is cooked and you know what it tastes like. The taste will be slightly different as you won’t have fried the spices, but it avoids the risk of adding too much if that is what you are concerned about.

This recipe keeps well for 24 hours in the fridge (I'm having the leftovers for lunch today), although if you’ve never re-heated spicy food, be aware that the flavour continues to develop (basically it keeps getting a little stronger). It is also easy to halve this recipe if required.

Just a word of warning – the cooking time means that this takes longer than my normal mid-week meals. However, it has the bonus that most of 30 minutes simmering you are free to do something else, though you need to keep an eye on the pan. It is also a one-dish meal unless you have rice with it, which helps to reduce the washing up! So in my book it is a great meal for mid-week.

Tip: I know I need lemon zest for tomorrow’s meal so I will zest the lemon that I use for juice this evening and keep the zest in the fridge.

Cauliflower and potato curry

Serves 4

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Cost: £5.09 (£1.27 per serving) with rice. £1.72 per serving with Naan, or £1.80 with chapattis

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large piece of ginger, grated

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp curry powder (or use a mix of garam masalam and tandoori powder)

½ tsp turmeric

1 tin can tomatoes, chopped

½ tsp sugar

1 cauliflower, cut into florets
2 potatoes (about 500g raw), chopped into bite-sized chunks

1 small green chilli chopped in half, or ¼ tsp chilli powder

Squeeze of lemon juice

Coriander, chopped

4 Naan, or 8 chapattis or rice to serve

Yoghurt for serving

In a large pan over medium heat heat the oil then fry the onions for 10 minutes until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin and curry powder. Cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, stir in the sugar. Add the cauliflower, potatoes and chilli. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender. Add water if it starts to dry out too much, though you don’t want too much water in the bottom.

Start cooking your rice, or prepare the Naan/chapatis for heating up.

Once the vegetables are tender, remove the two chilli halves. Stir in the lemon juice, season as required. Serve in a bowl with the rice (if using), and scatter with coriander and a spoon of yoghurt per bowl.

N.B. The cost of the meal is calculated on the day that this blog entry was published, using Sainsbury's online groceries as a reference for pricing. Each item is costed by weight used not by the total cost of a bottle/packet of that product.

Thanks for stopping by,

Rose

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