Priya, Sereena and Alexa Kaul’s family left Kashmir to live in the UK. Now in their forties with families of their own, these three sisters have complied a book documenting the recipes they learned from their mother as children. I went to see this vibrant trio at the recent Ilkley literature festival where they recounted tales of their wrench from Kashmir and their childhood in Sheffield. The event included tasting two of their classic recipes. Spinach and paneer and cauliflower and potato curry.
I have made their cauliflower and potato curry and it works really well. The spice mix is unusual. It includes ground fennel which complements cauliflower really well. It is best to make this curry in a large wok or saucepan.
Cauliflower and potato curry
- 4tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium cauliflower, rinsed and broken into florets. Chop stalks and some of the leaves.
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 2tbsp cumin seeds, ground
- 2tbsp fennel seeds, ground
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 300ml cold water
- 1 small green chilli, deseeded but left whole
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tsp garam masala
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Pour the sunflower oil into a large wok together with the chopped onions and garlic, and sweat until soft. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ground cumin, fennel, ginger and turmeric making sure all the ingredients are well coated with these spices. Add about 300ml of cold water and bring to the boil (you may need a little more if your cauliflower and potatoes were large). Allow the potatoes and cauliflower to cook with the spices for about 20 minutes or until soft. Add the green chilli. Adding whole chillies during cooking is a way of controlling the heat of the dish. If you add a whole chilli towards the end of cooking the dish will pick up the flavour of the chilli and some of the heat. Add chilli at the beginning to extract more heat. Add the chopped tomato and continue to cook for a further five minutes. Season with salt and pepper and spoon garam masala through the curry. Serve with a sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander leaves.