Sayantani Style Gobhi Masala

 I learnt making this lovely dish from my friend  Sayantani. With a very north East Indian food quality, this dish is best served with yellow dal tadka and zeera rice. 

 Ingredients

Cauliflower - 1 large piece

Onions - 2 large 

Potatoes - 4-5 medium sized

Tomato - 1 large

Salt - To taste

Panch Phodan - this is a special mix of spices from Kolkatta and can be easily made at home. (Check here for more details)


Turmeric - 2 tea spoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tea spoon

    Dried Coriander Powder - 3 tea spoons

   Garam Masala - 1 tea spoon

   Oil - half a bowl

Method

Pluck big flowers out of the cauliflower. Please do not use a knief. Simply pluck the flowers (big around the size of a tennis ball) and place aside. 

Heat around 4-5 table spoons oil in a large shallow frying pan such that you can spread the flowers around the vessel. Place the flowers one by one in the hot oil and let it fry slowly. Keep checking on the flowers and turn them on all sides so that the flowers cook uniformly from all sides. While making this dish I sometimes feel that the flowers are little burnt however it only adds a smokey flavor to the end product. While the flowers are frying, prepare the other ingredients.

Peel the potatoes, and cut each potato into 4 pieces. Keep them aside. Also puree the one tomato and keep aside. Finally shred the two onions into thin long threads and keep these aside as well.

By now the cauliflowers would be done. Take them out piece by piece and place on a tissue paper to get rid of the extra oil. Then fry the potatoes in a similar fashion.

When the potatoes and done, take them out on a tissue paper. Finally add another table spoon of oil to the same pan. Add 2 table spoons of panch phodan to the hot oil. When it is crackled, add the onions. Fry the onions till they are brown, and add the puree. When the puree starts leaving a little oil, add turmeric, chill powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Stir for half a minute and add the cauliflower and potatoes.

It is important to ensure that the cauliflowers do not break into small pieces. So as the dish starts to cook, the vegetables will become more and more tender. So handle it with more patience towards the end. Cover the vessel with a lid and cook on low flame for approximately another 5 minutes. 

The gobhi masala is ready :) Enjoy :)

Tip: My picture shows that peas inside the gobhi, but please don't add those. It simply spoils the whole taste. Make it simple and it comes out very nice. 

Hope you like it.