Cauliflower has always been my favourite winter vegetable. During my childhood I used to wait eagerly for winter to come so that I could enjoy various preparations with it. However these days, one can find cauliflower in the market throughout the year. “Fulkopi-Alur dalna” or Cauliflower and potato curry is a very common dish prepared in Bengali households. The recipe is quite simple and requires few handful ingredients. This curry is equally enjoyable with rice or roti or paratha.

Ingredients to serve 4 :

1. Potato (cut into medium sized cubes) – 2
2. Cauliflower – 20-24 florets (medium size)
3. Chopped tomato – 1 (small)
4. Slit green chillies – 2-3
5. Ginger paste – 1 teaspoon
6. Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon
7. Whole garam masala (Cinnamon – ½” stick, Clove – 3, Green cardamom – 3)
8. Bay leaf – 1
9. Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
10. Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
11. Cumin powder – 1½ tbspoon
12. Salt & sugar to taste
13. Cooking oil – 4-5 tbspoon

Procedure :

Rinse the vegetables with water and keep aside.

Heat 3 tbspoon of oil in a frying pan or kadai over medium heat.

Add cauliflower florets to it and fry till they get half-cooked and light brown in colour. Add salt and ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder while frying it. Keep the fried cauliflower aside.

Now add remaining oil in the pan and let it become hot.

Add whole garam masala, cumin seeds and bay leaf into it. Saute for a while till you get a nice aroma out of them.

Now add potato cubes, salt and remaining turmeric powder. Fry the potatoes till they get half-cooked.

Add chopped tomato, ginger paste and green chillies and cook till tomato turns mushy.

Now add fried cauliflowers, red chilli powder and cumin powder and cook till oil separates from the mixture. You can add little water if the spices seem to burn, but cook the dry spices till their raw flavour disappears.

Now add 1½ large cup of water, sugar and salt as needed. (remember you have already added salt twice before).

As the water starts boiling cover the pan with a lid and let it cook over low-medium flame.

As all the vegetables get cooked and gravy thickens to your desired consistency put the gas off.

Serve with roti, paratha or rice.

Note :

1. Adjust chilli according to your taste.
2. If you want your gravy to be more spicy and flavourful then add 1 teaspoon of ghee/clarified butter and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder at the end. Mix them well and give a standing time of 1-2 minutes.