Whole Roasted Cauliflower 烤菜花

How many ways can you prepare, cook and present a cauliflower dish? Often, cauliflower can be prepared into florets then used in recipes such as Roasted Cauliflower Pizza, Sweet and Sour Cauliflower in the style of Gobi Manchurian, Almost Aloo Gobi - Spicy Cauliflower with Potatoes, Cauliflower Potato Cheddar Soup. Other times, cauliflower can also be sliced as "steaks", grilled or roasted as "steaks" and enjoyed as....a steak!

Now comes the biggie!

The first time I tried whole roasted cauliflower was in Turmeric Indian Restaurant in Sunnyvale, CA and that spicy whole roasted cauliflower served as part of buffet lunch left me very impressed, wanting more. But I can't be heading to buffet that regularly. So, without doubt, it became part of my to-do list, however knowing it was something that would not happen too soon. It was processing in my mind, deciphering and decoding - how such a dish can be easily achieved in a home kitchen by the home-cook.


Till I saw a dish at Angie Recipes that featured a whole-head of cauliflower - kept whole and cooked whole. Though not exactly the same, it reminded me of that restaurant's spicy whole roasted cauliflower,


Then I saw a photo shared in Facebook, and viola - this is it! It looks exactly almost like the restaurant's, read Spicy Roasted Cauliflower, and came with a recipe. Yay!



Spicy Whole Roasted Cauliflower 烤菜花
adapted from Ask Dr Nandi
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 head cauliflower,Trim the base of the cauliflower to remove any green leaves and the woody stem
1.5-2cups plain Greek yogurt
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 400F.  Lightly grease a wide-area baking sheet/tray with vegetable oil. Mix marinade of yogurt with the lime zest and juice, chile powder, cumin, minced garlic, curry powder, turmeric, salt and pepper in a bowl (Note: This marinade enables some kind of crusty formation on the surface of the cauliflower). Slather the cauliflower with marinade evenly over its surface, then place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the surface is dry and lightly browned, about an hour. Let the cauliflower cool for about 10 minutes before serving.


This makes a great centerpiece at the dinner table. When serving to guests, slice the roasted whole cauliflower into wedges.

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Tag: whole roasted cauliflower, roasted cauliflower

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