TV Tuesday has me demonstrating a classic Vij’s Restaurant dish called “Cauliflower Steak”. Meeru Dhalwala created this dish with the intention for a vegetable to have the heft and weight on a plate that a piece of steak might, requiring a fork and knife to eat it.
Ensuring the cauliflower stays intact and is fork tender is the key to this otherwise very simple recipe.
The recipe for the cauliflower steak will appear if you READ MORE. Thanks for visiting and happy Valentine’s day 🙂 xxoo
This recipe is from Vij’s at Home.
Spicy Cauliflower ‘Steak’
1 head cauliflower (about 1-1/2 lb/675 g), outside stalks cut off
½ cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) puréed or crushed canned tomatoes
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped, peeled ginger
1 tbsp (15 mL) each: ground cumin, ground coriander (I used cumin seeds, toasted them, then ground in a mortar and pestle)
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) kosher salt
1 tsp (5 mL) turmeric, cayenne pepper
10 whole cloves (optional)
3-inch (7.5-cm) stick cinnamon (optional)
Chopped cilantro leaves (optional)
Cut cauliflower as you would a pie, into 6 or 8 pieces. Wash; place pieces in colander. (If you wish, cut into florets instead of wedges.)
In large wide pot, combine oil and tomatoes on medium-high heat. Add ginger, cumin, coriander, salt, turmeric, cayenne, cloves if using, and cinnamon if using. Stir well. Cook, stirring and reducing heat if needed, 3 to 4 minutes or until oil glistens from tomatoes.
Reduce heat to low. Carefully place each piece of cauliflower into pot. Stir gently so tomato mixture covers all pieces. If necessary, use large spoon to ladle tomato mixture into nooks and crannies of cauliflower pieces. Raise heat to medium; cover. Cook 4 minutes; stir. If cauliflower isn’t cooking, increase heat. If it’s sticking, lower heat. Cover; cook 4 minutes. Pierce one of larger pieces with knife to see if it is just soft (not mushy). If needed, cook cauliflower, covered, another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove cloves and cinnamon before serving, if desired. Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Makes 4 to 6 side servings.