Lovely to hear from you.

It is cayenne pepper. In England, we just call it chilli powder because it’s a mix of many different types of chillies. Generally, I tend to keep this on the low side, because I’m terrible with chillies. But it’s impossible to say how strong each brand of cayenne pepper is, so please add a little at a time and see how you go.

Hope this helps!

One question - the “chilli powder” to which you refer - is that cayenne pepper or a different type? It turns out well with cayenne pepper but is very spicy and I just wanted to make sure that was correct.

I tried this recipe and it was finger licking good. No more mushy cauliflower.

Thanks!

With the onions, all they could give to the dish they would have anyway by then end. So no need to worry about them being tasteless. With Indian cooking, it’s more about how things come together. usually the onions go limp and mashed up anyway.

With the flavour, you really need to go in quite vigorously and stir the raw cauliflower to get it coated with all the masalas. As the potatoes go in first, the cauliflowers need more tlc to make sure they get their fair share of masalas.

Finally, will you try using a bit more of the powdered spices next time? Just in case they are weaker than what I get here? Oh and also, salt early on is always a good idea.

Don’t let this put you off, will you?

VB
M
x

I would like the cauliflower to be more coated in the seasonings than they were. The potatoes turned out tasty, but I think salt should be added to the water to bring out the flavors more. I added salt at the end, and it helped, but it was not as flavorful through and through as I had hoped.

Also, I think I might sauté onions in a separate pan and add them at the end. The onions I added were so limp and without flavor after the cooking process that they didn’t seem to add much to the dish.

I think I might not use the chilli powder next time and just get the added heat from the garam masalas as it’s a bit hotter than I am used to.

What do you think of the idea of sauteing the onions and adding them later? I would still put onions in at the beginning, but did you find them limp and tasteless by the end of cooking? And what would you do to better coat the cauliflower with the flavors from the spices?

I’m looking forward to trying this version of aloo gobi. It sounds terrific! Your description of the Bengali version sounds awesome too!!

Can’t wait to try them both. I think the Bengali version must be the version I encounter most often in Indian restaurants near me.

Marc