My annual Greenfinger’s Day came and went this year. Planting pots and pruning hedges hardly feature in my top ten things to get flustered about these days.
One sunny morning, I opened our balcony door to let the first seasonal rays of sunshine in. A breath of fresh air. A joy in my step. A view of dead leaves.
Lovely.
My father-in-law took pity on me and decided to lead the charge on the gardening project. I extracted my fluorescent gardening gloves and scissors in preparation.
“Those are kitchen scissors.”
Yes, I know dad.
“When did you last water these plants”
Two weeks ago.
“You know plants need water to survive?”
That’s only a small technical oversight!
We spent the evening clearing up, replanting courgette and tomato plants my sister-in-law had ambitiously donated to me. Dad did, that is. I made every excuse to leap back into the flat: dinner, baby, strange itch in my little finger.
One week of watering later, I have two courgette flowers and a thriving collection of flowers (identity unknown). I won’t swamp you with courgette curries yet, but here’s a winter to summer Gobi Mattar or cauliflower and pea stir fry to celebrate seasonal changes.
Feeds 2:
- 1 small cauliflower
- Half mug green shelled peas (I used freshly frozen one)
- 1 medium potato
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- Half tsp cumin powder
- Half tsp cumin seeds
- Half tsp chilli powder
- Half tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
Cut the cauliflower into large florets. Don’t make them too small or they’ll fall apart when you cook them.
Peel and chop the potato into little pieces. Bring a large frying pan to heat on high with the tablespoon of oil. When it’s hot, add the cumin seeds and as they sizzle up, the potatoes along with all the spice powders.
Stir the potatoes for five minutes until their edges turn translucent and you can insert a fork into them albeit with some difficulty. Now mix in the cauliflower florets, lower the heat to a medium, cover and cook for five minutes.
Lastly, stir in the peas, salt to taste and cook for a final five minutes until the cauliflower is soft.
15 Comments
I wish i had a garden where i could plant few herb, this is the exact same way we prepare simple cauliflower dish but i do add little sugar too
Loved the way you described ur gardening!, cauliflower looks yummy!
Your gardening story made me smile– I used to be like that, still am, but I think I am getting a little better each year as in I am killing fewer plants now, although my husband Desi will likely not agree
That sounded so much like my husband! I stopped growing plants after I left them under his care for a week and returned to find them malnutritioned or dead! Hope your new ones thrive under loving care:). I make cauliflower this way too and we love it.
Hehe..I know the feeling well. I have a black thumb…. even killed a chinese bamboo plant. Yummy food!
I had a hugely disappointing cauliflower curry last week. Shall make this soon to help me forget.
Have 3 courgette plants growing into monsters in the garden. All recipes greatly appreciated.
Thank goodness for Dads! They certainly help a lot sometimes!
Perfect timing! Our farmer market is swamped with gobi and mattar. Nice to see you back and in dazzling form again!
nb- a little request for you baby basu, please allow mommy to write more often. Will ya?
My friend’s mom used to make a mild gravy of onion tomato and ground cashewnut which would form a great base for this recipe
Mmmmm looks really yummy….
I too am a rotten gardener. I think it comes from my childhood: “Don’t touch it! It’s dirty!” whereas cooking got a cultural thumbs-up.
I was interviewed by a southwest foodie mag about my blog and when asked about my faves, I said: “Quick Indian Cooking really keeps me on my toes.”
Hey, those fluorescent gardening gloves? I want some!
We just moved to a house where everything is overgrown.. can I borrow your FIL for some help
The cauliflower curry looks good.
Mallika, dying to knw baby basu’s name? and we need some pics pls!
Hi Mallika, you have nice recipes in your blog. Check out Femlina.com. It is India’s first women’s social network. You can join and share your blogs, photos and videos about your recipes.