Caulflower and potato curry with cashews (Alu gobi with cashews)

It feels strange to be blogging after having to take an unexpected blog break for various reasons. Life has been busy with some challenging family health issues but we are all feeling a lot more positive and I hope to be back to regular blogging soon. I must say that once you stop writing your blog, it’s difficult to get back.

Today’s recipe is simple cauliflower and potato curry – often called alu gobi in restaurant menus. I am posting this specially for my sister who told me that alu gobi is a favourite dish of a lot of her friends in USA and I didn’t have the recipe in my blog. ( I think the movie Bend it like Beckham made alu gobi famous!!)

Ingredients:

1 large potato cut into medium cubes
2 cups of cauliflower cut into medium piece
2 or 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil (Most cooking oils are fine but try and use one which is low in saturated fats and trans fats)
1 tsp of cumin seeds
½ cup of cashews soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
½ cup of passata
½ tsp salt
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp turmeric
2 tsp mixture of coriander and cumin
1 tsp garam masala
2 cloves of garlic chopped finely
small piece of ginger – grated finely
2 green chilies also finely chopped
A small bunch of fresh coriander.

Method:

1. Heat the oil and add in the cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds go dark brown, add the cauliflower and diced potatoes. Stir the mixture until all the vegetables are coated with the oil and cumin seeds.

2. Now add the spices – salt, turmeric and the ground coriander and cumin powder. Also add the ginger, garlic and green chillies which should be blended quite fine – almost like a paste if possible. Also discard the water and add in the soaked cashews and stir this well. Add one cup of hot water and allow the mixture to cook. Most of the water will get soaked up as your vegetables cook. 4. Once the potatoes and cauliflower soften, add in the passata and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add some fresh coriander and garam masala, stir and your curry is cooked ready to eat.
5. Serve hot with any Indian bread.