Curried Ghobi

Ghobi is a word that means cauliflower. Once there was a restaurant named Govinda’s in my town run by Krishna devotees (Hari Krishna) from a nearby temple. Their food was sumptuous and I concluded from it that I loved cauliflower and could be very happy eating a main dish without meat.

This is a great side dish that is vegetarian. You can leave the spices whole or grind them wholly or in part, but remember that you don’t leave the cardamom in the pod, but extract it. Just leave out the red pepper if you don’t like spicey hot.

Yield

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

	½ cup	ghee
	pinch	asafetida powder
	1½ lb	cauliflower
	1¼ cups	yoghurt
	2 large	onions, finely chopped
	4	bay leaves
	1½ cups	hot water
	—	salt
	6 pins	whole cloves
	6	black pepper corns
	1	black cardamom pod
	2	green cardamom pods
	2"	cinnamon stick
	1 tsp	coriander
	1 tsp	cumin
	1 tsp	red pepper, ground (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat ¼ of the ghee and bloom the asafetida. Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove cauliflower to a plate and pour the yoghurt over it.

2. Heat rest of ghee and add onions, garlic, salt, bay leaves and all the spices except the red pepper. Cook until onions begin to caramelize. Stir in red pepper.

3. Return cauliflower to pan (with yoghurt) and stir gently to combine. Simmer covered over low heat for 10 minutes. Add hot water and recover simmering for another 25 minutes or until cauliflower very tender.