2017 Curry Recipes: 1 - Butter Cauliflower and Chickpeas

I've finally got 10 mins to write down the first of my current trio of great curry recipes, so here it is!

Ingredients:

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main.

• 1 large cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
• 1 tin of chickpeas (drained)
• 1 medium onion, sliced finely
• 100-150g salted butter (for a vegan version, use 100g coconut oil)
• 1 small can coconut cream (160-200ml)
• 2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 150-200ml double cream (for a vegan version, double the amount of coconut cream and omit this)
• 1x red chilli, sliced finely.
• 1 pinch smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 2 tbsp toasted, desiccated coconut
• salt to taste
• toasted flaked almonds and coconut chips or shavings to serve

Method:

1. Toast the desiccated coconut and set aside.
2. Toast the almond flakes and coconut chips/shavings and set aside.
3. Sweat the sliced onion in a pan with half of the butter until the onion is translucent and sticky.
4. Add the cauliflower chunks and the rest of the butter, tossing the cauliflower until it is coated with the hot butter.
5. Sprinkle the turmeric and paprika into the pan and toss the cauliflower until it is fully coated. add more butter if the cauliflower doesn't get fully coated with the golden liquid and you can see white patches still.
6. Cook the cauliflower for a little while until it starts to soften.
7. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two, then add the coconut cream.
8. Cook the mixture and as it thickens, add the double cream, desiccated coconut and ground almond.
9. Cook until the cauliflower softens nicely, add a little water if the sauce gets too thick - it should end up thick enough to stick to a spoon and not drip off.
10. For the final couple of minutes of cooking, add the sliced chilli, then drained chick peas, then Garam Masala (don't cook that too long or it will taste bitter).
11. Season with salt to taste (don't add it too early or the chick peas will harden and be crunchy).
12. When ready to serve, spoon onto serving dish and garnish with the toasted almond flakes and coconut chips/shavings.