First principle of cooking:
The most important ingredient in food is Love. That is what nourishes the soul ,the mind and the body. So when you are cooking, try to be in a good mood. Sing, listen to soothing music and sounds, think about loved ones and sweet memories, smile. It will show in the food.
Ingredients:
- Oil: a couple of tablespoons
- 1 small/medium cauliflower
- 1 small/medium broccoli, about the same size as the cauliflower
- Mustard seeds: half a teaspoon
- Fenugreek seeds: half a teaspoon
- Turmeric: quarter teaspoon
- Ground cumin seeds: quarter teaspoon
- Ground coriander seeds: quarter teaspoon
- Salt: to taste. Rock salt is tastier than sea salt, and you need less.
Optional:
- Urad dal seeds: half a teaspoon
- Small pieces of walnut, toasted lightly – to give a nice nutty taste and also some crunchiness
- Yoghurt: If you want to add another wonderfully complex taste!
This recipe will make 2 to 3 servings. To increase the amount, increase all ingredients proportionately.
You can also make this recipe using only cauliflower or only broccoli as the only vegetable in the recipe – both those variants taste very different from this one and from each other!
Important Notes
- Sunflower or any light oil is best. Indian food should NOT be cooked in olive oil as it burns at a very low temperature. Once any cooking oil has “smoked”, it turns toxic.
- A gas cooker (flame) is the best way to cook Indian food as the temperature can be controlled immediately. Induction cooking is next best, but it does tend to affect the quality of the food inside (like microwaves, though not as bad). If cooking on an electric coil cooker, be watchful – it is easy to burn food.
- Use heavy pots and pans to cook. Cast iron is best, but heavy stainless steel (18/10 grade) will also do. Avoid items with non-stick coatings; the coatings are poisonous.
How to:
- Put a wide pan on the cooker and allow it to heat a little (if it overheats, wait till it cools down)
- Add the oil and watch over it carefully.
- When the oil is hot (but before it smokes), add mustard seeds (after a couple of minutes, they will start to pop).
- Add turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander together.
- When the mustard seeds pop, add fenugreek seeds (also urad dal seeds if you choose to add them – they’re optional). Fenugreek burns quickly (as does urad dal), so wait only a few seconds, and then …
- … add cauliflower and broccoli
- Mix everything well so that the vegetables are coated with the spices
- Cover the pot, stir once every few minutes, repeating till the vegetables are nicely cooked.
- If you want to add a wonderfully complex flavour, add a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt after the vegetables are almost completely cooked.
- Add salt to taste and mix well.
- At the end, add some crushed walnuts (lightly toasted) – they bring a nutty taste and a wonderful crunchiness.
- Cover the pan again, simmer for a few minutes, then turn off the source of heat. Allow the pan to stand for 10 minutes – the steam inside is still cooking the vegetables.
Serving:
- Eat while still hot!
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander and squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon juice on top.
- Serve with chapati and dal, or as a side accompaniment to a mixture of rice and yoghurt, etc. Mixing the veggies with some kind of carbs like chapati or rice and proteins like dal helps balance the meal.
Remember: The most important ingredient in food is Love.