Meatless Monday – Impressive Indian

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This stuffed cauliflower is really worth trying. It’s such a great play on textures and flavors. The stuffing alone is delicious as is the gingery tomato sauce. Get creative and use them as components in your other culinary creations.

This Meatless Monday meal was inspired by the wonderful spices available at Savory Spice.

Coconut Milk Powder is my new pantry staple. Instead of using 1 Tbsp. from a can, you can just reconstitute coconut milk powder in water. It’s a bit lighter and not as creamy which is a nice twist.

Mango Powder is used in India to makes things slightly sour. In this dressing, it plays nice with the creamy, sweetness of the avocado and the pungent onions (please stay tuned for the recipe).

Red lentils are a wonder.  Click here for some of our red lentil recipes.  They take no time to cook and served alongside the whole baked cauliflower, which you can partially prepare on Sunday and then bake on Monday, makes a lovely dinner.

For Tomato Sauce:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 cups diced tomatoes (Muir Glenn Fire Roasted is really good here)
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a non-reactive large saute pan and add the onions and cook until soft. Add the cumin and stir occasionally for 1 minute.

Now add the ginger and cook for another minute. Next pour in the tomatoes and the water and bring to a boil.  Season with salt and pepper. Add cilantro, cover and turn off heat.

For Stuffed Cauliflower:

1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Anaheim chilies, diced
1 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
2 tablespoons ground almonds or pistachios, plus more for garnishing
1 head of cauliflower
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds, or 1 tsp. yellow, 1 tsp. brown

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions. Once onions are soft, add the chilies and the garlic stir around and then add the ginger and coriander and mix well.

Now the almonds or pistachios and the mustard seeds can be added. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, Season with salt and pepper. Mixture should be rather crumbly in texture. Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently stuff the mixture into the seams of the cooled cauliflower florets. Spread the remaining stuffing over the top.

Place cauliflower head into a shallow baking dish. If you have extra nuts, sprinkle them over the top and pour about 1 to 2 Tbsp. of extra vegetable oil over the top. Ladle some of  the tomato sauce around the stuffed cauliflower and spoon a bit on top.  Bake the cauliflower for 25 minutes.

To serve: Reheat the tomato sauce. Pour a little sauce on the bottom of a serving platter. Place cauliflower on top. Pour more sauce on top and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and nuts. Cut into the cauliflower like a cake and serve with sauce on top.

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