Cauliflower Peas Masala

Description

Cauliflower and Green peas cooked in rich coconut tomato gravy.
Ingredients-1
1 cup Cauliflower (cut into florets )
¼ cup Green peas
1 no Onion (finely chopped)
1 no Green chilli
¼ tsp Cumin seeds
¼ tsp Fennel seeds
1 no Cinnamon stick
2 nos Cloves
½ tsp Red chilli powder
3 tsp Coriander /dhania powder
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
¼ tsp Black pepper powder
1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
5 tsp Oil
3 stks Coriander leaves
5 nos Curry leaves
Ingredients-2
3 nos Onion (cut into big dices)
5 nos Tomato (diced)
½ tsp Ginger (chopped)
2 clove Garlic
Ingredients-3
½ cup Fresh grated coconut
¼ cup Water (approx)

Instructions

1.Cut cauliflower into small florets, wash the florets along with fresh green peas. Cook them in salted water for 8 to 10 minutes, strain and keep aside.
2.Grind all ingredients from table-2 (onion, tomato, ginger and garlic ) to make a thick paste.
3. Grind the ingredients from table-3 (fresh grated coconut and water) to make a thick paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan and toast cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Fry the onions and green chilli from table-1 until golden. Add the thick onion tomato puree along with turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder and salt. Cook this gravy until the raw smell goes away. (about 15 minutes over medium flame) Then add the coconut paste to this and simmer for another couple of minutes.
5. Now add the cooked cauliflower florets and green peas to the gravy and garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

Notes

Add the cooked cauliflower at the last stage, this will prevent it from getting mashed up in the gravy.
Frozen sweet green peas need not be cooked separately, add them directly to the gravy. Only fresh ones from pea-pods needs to be cooked.
Coconut paste is only optional, avoid if you wish.

Comments

8 responses to “Cauliflower Peas Masala”

  1. Deepa V Kumar Avatar
    Deepa V Kumar

    hi mullai,

    I cooked it without the coconut.. the flavours were gud , but it tasted sour…shud we reduce the amt of any of the ingredients , especially tomatoes , if we are trying this without coconut ?

    i was looking out for recipies to accompany with chappathies for dinner..this wud surely help .

    Thank u
    Deepa

  2. janet Avatar
    janet

    JANET.

    Hi Mullai, In this dish if I have to add dessicated coconut instead of fresh ground coconut paste,how will i add it and when?

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai

      Desicated coconut works but doesn't suit that much. You need not grind, just add 1/4 tsp just before switching off.

  3. suriyaa Avatar
    suriyaa

    hi mullai i tried this ,it was superb .my husband also liked it. i want some side dish for chapathi,i like chapthi,weekly thrice i make chapathi ,making same side dish it is really not good.so post me some chapathi's sidedish.

  4. Manoj Avatar
    Manoj

    Hi Mullai – while your recipes usually turn out excellent for me (chilly porotta, chicken salna, all the biriyanis etc), this one was a disappointment, and was wondering what I did wrong.
    First off, the ratio of onions/tomatoes to the actual amount of cauliflower seemed too much, so I reduced the onions in ‘Ingredient2’ to 2 medium sized onions and tomatoes to about 4 plum sized ones. And when it came to this step: “Cook this gravy until the raw smell goes away. (about 5 minutes over medium flame)”, I let it cook for an extra 5 mins, and added the other stuff when I thought the smell was gone. But ultimately the dish turned out very raw tasting, and none of the other ingredients even stood a chance in the presence of the onion & tomato paste.
    What do you think should’ve been done different?

    PS: Considering this recipe site is a serious endeavor on your part, and possibly meant for expert as well as amateur cooks, it’d be nice if more details were given out w.r.t to ingredients. Like for example, how much is 5 onions? Medium, Small? Wouldn’t it more helpful to say 2 cups or 3 cups of onions? Which reminds me, since ‘1 cup’ is not necessarily an universal measure, could you also mention what cup measure that is? 236 ml? or is it the Indian rice cup measure?
    Please look upon this as constructive feedback, cos’ otherwise your site is excellent and as far as content goes, it’s definitely one of the best out there.

    thanks!

    1. Mullai Avatar
      Mullai

      Hi Manoj,

       Well….. there are a lot of issues to be watched for while cooking, I thought  I've given enough attention to the detail, to make my recipes easier. But after reading your post, I came to know that there are some more facts that I should include in my future post. Thanks for bringing it to light, I really appreciate your feedback.

      With this recipe

       1. The measurements are right, only thing is the size, each region has its own variety, I always go with medium size veggie, or else would state it as small in brackets. Did you add the green peas? Assuming the onions and tomatoes to be medium, this proportion should work.

      2. Sometimes using strong red onions make them taste raw after cooking. Use sweet yellow onions instead, which would be my choice, when it comes to grinding raw onion in any recipe.  Anyway I will change the cooking time to 15minutes. One more suggestion, you can also fry the onions in little oil and then grind to avoid the raw smell.  Sorry about your dish, apologize for the mess.

      3. For the cup measurements, go with 236 ml , if its any other size I would mention.

      Thanks again and in future, do not hesitate to write if somethings wrong. Good luck

  5. kaberi Avatar
    kaberi

    i think you should try for MIRCHI KA SALAN AND CUCUMBER N ONION RAITA.nothing goes well with veg biriyani as already all the vegetable are there.

  6. Visitor Avatar
    Visitor

    Hi,
    I am looking for a vegetable side dish for vegetable biryani. Will this recipe go well with it?

    Thank you,
    Divya.