Receta A Tale of Two Cauliflowers..The Cheap and The Pricey..Mildly Spicy With A Coconut Kick!
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A Tale of Two Cauliflowers..The Cheap and The Pricey..Mildly Spicy With A Coconut Kick!
In Cauliwood every Cauliflower has it's price. This is a tale of one of them.
She sat there in the fading Marin sunshine. It was late afternoon and some wisps of fog whipped across the sky. She was all bright purple with a swirl of tight emerald leaves. A friend of ours, Mr. X we'll call him sidled up to her. He stared admiringly.
"She's a real knock out isn't she?" a voice said.
"Uh. yeah," Mr. X said, embarrassed to have been caught eyeing her.
"She just got into town, there's not another one like her. She's special!" said the Farmer. "Why don't you take her home. Only 7 bucks"
"Isn't that a lot for a cauliflower?"
"You ever seen a purple one before?"
Mr. X took a deep breath and reached for his wallet.
Side note here: Mr. X is a very, very good friend of ours, a world traveler and a frequent guest at our table. He's always my marker for Indian food. I am always asking "is this as good as your friends' wife makes in Trivandrum??"
When he bought the 7 dollar cauliflower, he had me in mind. He brought it over to our house and made me close my eyes while he took it out of a bag and put it on the kitchen table.
I pulled open the refrigerator door and took out the cauliflower that I had bought the same day from the guy down the road for 99 cents.
I hated to do it. But he had to learn. It's Cauliwood Mr. X, and they're all the same.
So that's the origin of the 4 act Indian lunch. When someone gives you a 7 dollar cauliflower you HAVE to cook it, and cook it well.
I decided to blend it with my 99 cent purple special to have enough cauliflower to go around. The great thing about this purple cauliflower is that unlike the blue/purple, non-green beans, this stuff kept its' brilliant color even after cooking. Under the knife it was gorgeous.
I have also been taking advantage of the container of Tropical Traditions Organic Shredded Coconut I was sent and I was eager to show it off. The purple cauliflower was the perfect background.
The dish I had in mind was a simple Cauliflower Poriyal, done with chilies and mustard seed. This dish is great because it cooks up in about 10 minutes or so, leaving plenty of time to take care of all the other stuff. Here's how to do it:
Wash, dry and cut 1 large or two small cauliflower into little florets..
- In a deep skillet or kadhai heat about 3 Tbs of coconut oil. When it's heated up toss in:
- 1 tsp of black mustard seeds
- When the mustard seeds start to snap, crackle and pop add in:
- 1 tsp of urad dal
- In a minute or so the dal will turn a nice reddish color. When that happens add in:
2 whole dried red chilies
6 hot whole fresh green chilies
When the chilies start to turn a darker color, put in the lovely purple cauliflower.
Give it a stir or two.
Then add 3/4 tsp of salt and about 6 Tbs of water.
Cover the pan, turn the heat down and let the magic work.
Cook everything for about 5 minutes, see if the cauliflower is tender, take the lid off the pan and let any liquid cook off. We don't want soggy and purple, we want crisp and purple.
When it's all nice and tender mix in:
2 Tbs of shredded coconut.
Big Old Warning!!
DO NOT eat the whole chilies!!!! You may be tempted but don't. If someone insists they can handle it, you might want them to sign an affidavit first, and get out a fire hose.
So there it is. When all was said and done the pricey mingled with the cheap and no one knew the difference....That's Cauliwood!
If you'd like to score some of Tropical Traditions amazing Organic Shredded Coconut so that you can try this dish yourself, I'll be giving away a container just like the one they sent me to review. Check out my blog tomorrow for the rules on how to get this for yourself.