Cooking time:: 15 – 20 minutes
leaves of 1 cauliflower ( chopped fine)
1 medium potato (peeled and chopped into 8 pieces)
1 teaspoonful of coriander powder
1/4 teaspoonful of chopped chillies
1/4 teaspoonful of turmeric
1 teaspoon of amchoor
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Bahhgaar (Whole spices are browned in hot oil or ghee before any other ingredients are added.)
2 tablespoons of oil
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida
Method
Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida. When browned, add potato pieces, leaves, and all the other ingredients (except amchoor).
Stir well, cover, and cook on low heat for 7 – 10 minutes, add amchoor and cook further till the vegetable is dry.
India has an age-old tradition of maximizing every bit of any object – be it cauliflower leaves or rubber tyres – ‘waste not want not’ – a recycling policy at its best. In North India, the leaves of cauliflower invariably get used up as an extra vegetable – making a very tasty and nutritious dish indeed. And some of us, in fact, like it very much with our parathas. The cauliflower in the UK, in the early 70s, had its leaves trimmed off before being sold. A Punjabi friend of mine in London, who loved this dish to no end, resorted to going behind the market stalls and, to the amazement of the stall holders, gathered up the thrown leaves. The stallholders probably thought of her as a ‘poverty-stricken Indian’.
I also use these leaves in soups or other such dishes.
Feasts of India, Mridu Shailaj Thanki: Published in the UK by Jaggnath.
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