Roast
by: Genius Recipes
June6,2021
4.4
25 Ratings
- Prep time 10 minutes
- Cook time 50 minutes
- Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as a side
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Author Notes
"I spent years rallying against standard Indian curry house curries, like kormas, because they are so inauthentic to the Indian home cooking I grew up with. But then I realised how completely delightful it is to mop up the korma sauce with a naan bread and wrote this recipe." Meera Sodha writes. "Those curry houses are on the decline now, but this dish is a little homage to a simpler time and a simple pleasure."
The result is a comforting dish that truly wins everyone over, and can play just as easily as a weeknight dinner or a meal for entertaining a crowd. As Sodha writes, “This is a really great dish to make when people come round, as it’s a crowd-pleaser and easy to cook. Normally, the sauce comes together at the same time at the roasted cauliflower, leaving you more time to tell your best jokes or play the spoons to your guests. A lot of the flavor in this dish come from both caramelizing the onions and roasting the cauliflower, so don’t compromise on either of those.”
Pro tip: We love keeping Urvashi Pitre’s Quick Ginger Garlic Paste in the freezer to use in this recipe and any time we need garlic and ginger (just freeze small portions of the mix in an ice cube tray, pop them out, and store the cubes in a zippered freezer bag).
Recipe slightly adapted from Fresh India (Flatiron Books, May 2018). —Genius Recipes
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Cauliflower Korma With Blackened Raisins (Gobhi Korma) From MeeraSodha
Ingredients
- 2 large cauliflowers (about 3 1/2 pounds in total)
- Neutral oil, like grapeseed or canola
- Salt
- 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic (see note above)
- 2 1/2-inch piece of ginger, peeled (see note above)
- 3/4 teaspoonground cardamom (or finely ground seeds from 8 pods)
- 1 teaspoonground black pepper
- 2 teaspoonsgaram masala
- 1/2 teaspoonground red chile (we used cayenne)
- 1 cupground almonds
- 2 tablespoonshoney
- 2 cupsplain Greek yogurt
- 3/4 - 1 1/4 cupsmilk
- A handful of raisins
- A handful of sliced almonds
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350°F and (optionally) line two large baking pans with foil.
- Break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and put into a large bowl. Pour 4 tablespoons of oil over the florets (or mix enough to coat them properly), then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix with your hands until they’re completely coated, and place in a single layer in the baking pans. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and nicely browned in places. Check every 10 minutes—if the florets start to burn, cover them loosely with foil.
- In the meantime, put 3 tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan over medium heat and, when hot, add the onions. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and browning, then crush or grate in the garlic and grate in the ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the ground cardamom, black pepper, garam masala, ground red chile, ground almonds, honey and 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt (or to taste). Stir-fry for 3 minutes, then add the yogurt.
- Turn the heat down to low and cook for around 10 minutes, until the sauce starts to turn a rich gold. When the cauliflower is tender, tip it ino the sauce and stir to coat. Thin the sauce to the consistency of pouring yogurt with milk, and heat through. Check for seasoning, as you may need to add a little more salt.
- Finally, put a small frying pan over medium heat and, when hot, add the raisins and sliced almonds. Stir-fry until the raisins start to blacken and puff up and the almonds turn golden brown, then take off the heat.
- To serve, scatter the raisins and toasted almonds over the top of the cauliflower, and serve with rice or chapatis.
Tags:
- Indian
- Almond
- Cardamom
- Dairy
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Honey
- Nut
- Onion
- Pepper
- Raisin
- Spice
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Jeanne Jones
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rob weaver
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Jennifer Tavares
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Katie Grames
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margotbassettsilver
Recipe by: Genius Recipes
Popular on Food52
34 Reviews
Christi February 27, 2021
Oh my gosh! 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper was far too much. I will make this again because I love all those spices but will leave the red pepper out!
Jeanne J. November 30, 2020
The raisin and almond topping is a real eye-opener. I am now addicted and put it on my breakfast yogurt, my lunch salads and anything else I can think of. Even if you don't make this delicious recipe, make the topping and find a new love in your life!
rob W. October 4, 2020
in the photo above of the dish i could swear the cauliflower is missing and short grain rice substituted.
Jennifer T. September 29, 2020
This was so good! I followed the recipe exactly so if I wanted to change anything I'd know what to tweet but it's perfect just the way it is. I did use slivered almonds instead of chopped and noticed they did toast up a bit faster than the raisins but that is my only observation. Next time I think I'll halve the recipe since it's just two of us but other than that it's perfect. At first my husband wasn't too thrilled when I mentioned it was a vegetarian meal but he went back for seconds and said loved it. The raisins really surprised me too. This is one of those meals that's hard to stop after you're full!
Eunice July 2, 2020
I made this tonight with a few substitutions & it was DELICIOUS. I 1/2'd the recipe.
1. I used walnuts instead of almonds bc that's what I had.
2. I roasted the cauliflower in the Air Fryer @ 350 degrees x 15 mins on "roast" setting. Then "air fry" setting for about 8 minutes. Checking frequently and tossing the basket for even roasting.--Faster, cauli still browned, smaller dish to wash vs a baking rack.
3. I used 1 standard nonfat greek yogurt cup.
4. I didn't have raisins, so I left them off!--The whole dish is still AMAZING without it.
Other than those 4 things, I kept all measurements the same. I'll definitely repeat the recipe with raisins next time. I will say that the cardamom is a bit heavy in ratio to the dish, so if you're sensitive, I'd cut down a little bit.
Katie G. April 26, 2020
I made this tonight almost exactly as written (except for cooking the onions for about 30 minutes...I didn’t want the dish to be overwhelmed by onions) and it was incredibly good...really, really good. It was very flavorful, and was that wonderful combination of both rich and light. I will be making this again.
LULULAND April 22, 2020
This sounds and looks really good. I have everything but the ground almonds. Could I use almond flour instead? Thanks
dee G. June 4, 2020
I just made it and used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour and it worked great. Delicious recipe (as is everything from that cookbook).
margotbassettsilver April 17, 2020
I made this after reading the glowing reviews (and because I love cauliflower, cardamom, etc)...and was pretty disappointed. I adore all alliums, but there were too many onions here, the yogurt taste was too strong, even my beloved cardamom was a bit tongue-numbing. It needed MUCH more salt, and the consistency was way too thick - I ended up thinning with 1-2 cups of water. The flavors were good, so I might try it again, with many revisions - 1 onion (or 2 small), FINELY ground almonds, less cardamom, 1-2+ tsp salt, either less yogurt + more cream or maybe a combination with coconut milk, or I will just use water (or broth?) again.
betty888 April 15, 2020
So, so good and so easy. I had some broccoli that was going south so I roasted that along with the cauliflower and it worked really well. I used oat milk instead of regular milk and golden raisins as that's what I had on hand. So delicious - savory with a touch of sweet from the honey and raisins.
Tai April 8, 2020
Just made this - what great comfort food! Followed it exactly except that I can't find my sliced almonds, so I threw in some crushed walnuts to toast. Love it!
frizz April 4, 2020
Made this tonight, and we ended up doubling the spices. My non-cream-loving husband would prefer less yogurt, so we'll continue to tweak. But wow, did I love it sooooo much.
Elizabeth March 11, 2020
I made this tonight after watching the video on YouTube - it's delicious! I added some chickpeas because I had them and love them - it was great with them and I'd imagine it's also delicious without. Thanks!
Brian I. March 9, 2020
Made per the recipe last night - delicious! The best cauliflower we've ever had. (Your competition was Mom, who boiled cauliflower and doused it with melted Velveeta back in the day, because ....Indiana.)
Urvashi P. March 7, 2020
Thank you so much for sharing my ginger garlic paste tip! that dish looks AMAZING. Can't wait to try it <3
Erica March 6, 2020
Would love to make this, but we've got a tree nut and peanut allergy in our household. Is there a substitute for the ground almonds in the recipe? Could I just leave them out?
rob W. October 4, 2020
toasted soy beans?
whatever December 27, 2020
Pignoli nuts are expensive but great (and aren't actually nuts).
Corj March 4, 2020
Made this tonight and we loved it. I halved the recipe as we're just the two of us and it was just enough (though we could have eaten more & more). Used regular yogurt that I strained a few hours, replaced milk with unsweetened vanilla almond milk (was a bit worried about the vanilla but was undetectable). Added maybe 1 cup of tofu chunks and some massaged kale. Every bite was different. The topping is king! I think it would have been fine without the tofu and of course very good served over rice.
Kristen M. March 5, 2020
So glad you liked it!
Jolene March 4, 2020
This was DELICIOUS! I made it exactly as described in the video and recipe and it turned out perfectly and was very easy. I can totally see what you mean about the addictive blend of flavors :) Thanks also for the tip in the video about separating the florets, very helpful!
Kristen M. March 5, 2020
So happy to hear this!
SandraH March 2, 2020
So glad I saw this article! I have Meera Sodha’s Fresh India book out from the library and was looking for a recipe to try for our library Cookbook Club featuring Indian food this month. It’ll be nice to watch the video first too. I have already bookmarked her Roasted Broccoli with Almonds and Cardamom to try as well.
Kristen M. March 5, 2020
Kismet!
abbottabadi February 29, 2020
I made it today it was amazing oh my , I am from Pakistan and cook cauliflower In all sorts of different ways but this recipe is so good so easy and I’m so thankful to Almighty God that I had each and every ingredient will be making it many more times Insha’Allah
Kristen M. March 5, 2020
So glad you enjoyed it!
Tina February 27, 2020
Excellent recipe. I usually roast cauliflower with a dusting of garam masala, which is delicious as well, but this recipe really tops it off. Can be served as a fantastic side dish or as a main meal
Kristen M. March 5, 2020
Thank you, Tina!
