Gobi Masala

Today was one of those days when I had no idea what to cook for dinner till an hour before dinner. I'm sure a lot of you experience this. I opened the fridge half hoping to find a box of yummy Chinese food miraculously appearing out of nowehere but that wasn't to be. Instead I saw a cauliflower looking straight into my eyes, as if to remind me that it needs to be given attention to too. I first thought of doing the usually upkari with it, then thought of trying out gobi gheeroast  but was sure hubby and kiddo would find it too spicy. So I cut down the chillies, added some onions, garlic etc and made this simple gobi masala. It was already time for dinner by the time I finished, so I had less than a minute to click some decent pictures. I'm so not excited about clicking pictures of food at night. So these pics were taken half heartedly, with just a few seconds of work on it. Hopefully I'll be able to replace them with better pictures some day.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4 to 5 mild red chillies (I used byadgi / kumte mirsang)
6 to 8 curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp tamarind
2 medium onions
1 tsp chopped garlic
5 to 6 garlic cloves
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato ketchup


Method :

Heat 1 tsp oil and roast jeera, coriander seeds and red chillies. Switch the gas off, add 2 to 3 curry leaves and haldi powder and mix. Allow to cool. Grind with tamarind and about 1/2 cup water to get a smooth paste. Add more water if needed.
Sprinkle about 1/2 cup water on the cauliflower florets and microwave for 3 minutes (mix once in between). Drain all the water.

In a large pan, heat oil + ghee. Sauté onions, garlic and ginger till onions turn brownish. Add green chillies and remaining curry leaves and roast. To this add the cauliflower florets and roast for a minute. Add the ground paste and salt to taste and mix well. Drizzle tomato ketchup and mix. Add more ketchup if the dish turns out too spicy. Cook for a couple of minutes. [Do not overcook, or else the cauliflower will lose it's crunchiness]. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with chapati and curds.