Rasedar Gobi - Cauliflower in a creamy fennel flavored sauce

New year started 9 days back and it already seems like it has been here forever. I still haven't written 2014 anywhere, so much for all electronic communications and gadgets. Me & DD had this bet going that we would be writing 2013 until atleast March and I haven't hand written the date even once in the last 9 days, so no scope for error :-). I guess I am not leaving a lot of footprints in this world after all.

There were times when I wouldn't know what to make out of Gobi/phool Gobi/Cauliflower if I found one in my hand. I grew up hardly eating this winter vegetable since nammamma hardly ever brought it home. As I grew older and possibly wiser, I ventured into many vegetables and dishes and cuisines hitherto unknown and found that I did like a lot of them. I am open and willing to try many dishes I wouldn't even have given a second glance before. It no longer seems strange that I already have a handful of Gobi recipes on my blog here. Things do change over time, right?

This is a recipe I got from one of the online cookery shows I was watching on a day when boredom and solitude were how the day was defined :-). Infact it was made with potatoes and not cauliflower at all. Since potato and cauliflower have such kinship and go so well in most recipes they are put together, I was originally thinking of adding cauliflower into the gravy, but it so happened that I was out of potatoes when I finally decided to make this curry, there were chapatis already planned for the lunch so I went ahead and made them with just cauliflowers and loved it totally. Adding potatoes will bring in additional thickness to the gravy, if you want you can combine the 2 vegetables or use either of them.

What drew me to the recipe the first time I saw it was the use of fennel and roasted coconut, it sounded close to the kadala curry I had made and loved and I was eager to use fennel again in my cooking. Did I mention roasted and ground fennel is an aroma I LOVE to have in my kitchen. Here is a quick tip for all you fennel lovers, add a little spoon of freshly roasted and ground fennel to your pizza dough and enjoy the gleeful surprise on the face of your family and guests. This curry turned out simply great and a perfect accompaniment for rotis. I am sure you can serve it with plain rice and a fried rice.

While the list of ingredients look a bit tiresome below, don't let that be a deterrent, I have organized them into masala and others for ease of cooking. The original recipe used readily available powders, since I love fresh ingredients I boosted the flavor here with a few freshly roasted spices in addition to the dry powders.

What do you need to make Rasedar Gobi? 
3 cups chopped Gobi/cauliflower

Rasedar masala: 

1 cup chopped tomato
2 Tblsp roughly chopped onion
2 Tblsp shredded coconut
1 Tblsp oil
1 Tblsp saunf
1 inch piece cinnamon
3 cloves
1 green cardamom
4-6 black pepper corns
8-10 almonds
Other ingredients: 
1 Tblsp oil
1 inch piece ginger
2 Tblsp finely chopped onion
1/2 Tsp kasoori methi
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1/2 Tsp garam masala
1/4 Tsp amchoor powder
1 Tblsp finely chopped cilantro
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

How do you make Rasedar Gobi? 

• Put chopped Gobi in a microwave safe bowl, cover it with water and a pinch of salt and microwave for 5-7 minutes to make the pieces slightly tender. You can do this on stove top bringing a pot of water to boil, add gobi pieces and switch off. 
• Strain the tenderized Gobi pieces and reserve the water for later use. 
• Heat 1 Tblsp oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper and saunf and roast until you get the fragrance of the spices - 1 to 1.30 minutes
• Add roughly chopped onions and saute for a minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes and almonds and saute for 2-3 minutes until tomatoes become mushy. 
• Add shredded coconut and roast for a minute or two. 

• Switch off and let it cool down before grinding to a very smooth paste. 
• Heat the remaining oil in the pan, add grated ginger and finely chopped onions and saute until onions are translucent. 
• Add the blanched gobi pieces and increase the heat to high. 
• Stirring continuously, let the Gobi pieces crisp up and brown a little bit - about 3-5 minutes. 
• Add the ground masala, dry powders. taste and adjust.  

• Adjust consistency with reserved water. 
• Let the gravy boil on medium heat. 
• Crush kasoori methi between palms and add it to the gravy. 
• Switch off, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm with rotis or rice. 

Notes: 

• You can add a cup of chopped potatoes to this dish if you are a fan of potatoes. 
• I replace cashew nuts with almonds in most of my gravy recipes because they are better nuts of the two. If you prefer the creamy taste of cashew nuts, go ahead and indulge. 
• Add amchur powder if you like the curry slightly tart and if your tomatoes are not very sour. 
• Blanching the gobi pieces reduces the cooking time in the pan, you can skip this and cover and cook Gobi pieces in the pan until they turn tender. 
• Roasting the spices fresh brings out most flavor, you can skip this and increase the amount of dry powders if you have confidence on their freshness.

Kitchen smartness: 

• Any liquid you boil vegetables in will be flavorful and nutritious, do not chuck this down the drain, you can use it in gravies, making chapati dough and much more.