Dry Gobi (Cauliflower) with Spring Onions

First, I would like to thank Valarmathi of Simple and Yummy Recipes, for passing me the Blogging Friends Forever award. I am so excited about receiving the award again, and all the friends I have made, and will make through this blog! I would love to pass this award to all the bloggers who visit and continue to encourage me to keep posting...

To begin with the Cauliflower with Spring Onions (scallion, green onion, salad onion), this is the first time I made something with spring onions. I never knew what to do with them, and was quite lost when R bought a pack when he shopped for groceries one weekend. I did google for recipes, but was more confused with all the results which were alien to me (I don't make salads! Yeah, not a healthy eater).

Thankfully, R had also bought cauliflower, and I decided I'd just chop those spring onions into whatever I would make with the cauliflower. I normally use onions, and therefore, it was easy to substitute them with the spring onions, including the green leaves. To make Dry Gobi with Spring Onions, you will need:

Gobi/ Cauliflower - 4-5 cups of evenly broken florets

When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are removed, leaving only the florets. The leaves are also edible, but are most often discarded. The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly. After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size). Stirring while cooking can break the florets into smaller, uneven pieces. - Wikipedia

Spring Onions - chopped - about 2 cups
Tomatoes - chopped - 3 large
Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 1 tbsp
Garlic - peeled and pounded - 2 tsp/ 3-4 medium sized cloves
Lemon - 1/2 slice
Coriander leaves - chopped - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Jeera/ Cumin seeds powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 2 cups
Salt - to taste


Method:

• After breaking the washed cauliflower florets into similar-sized pieces, boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan, remove from stove, add the cauliflower pieces, squeeze the lemon juice over it, add about a tsp of salt, mix well, and leave covered for 30 minutes.

Note: This does not cook the cauliflower. This helps to clean the cauliflower, and retain the white colour of the cauliflower.

• Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped spring onions, ginger, garlic, green chilly, and tomatoes
• Mix well, and toss in all the powders except pepper and garam masala
• Keep covered, and cook on low flame until tomatoes are cooked, stirring in between

• Drain the water completely from the cauliflower pieces, and add them to the tomato-spring onion mixture
• Add the garam masala powder, pepper, and salt to taste and mix well, taking care not to break the cauliflower
• Leave this to cook for another 5-10 minutes, covered and on low flame, until the cauliflower pieces are cooked well, but not mushy
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve with chapathi/ roti

Below, I have a picture of the same dish prepared with normal onions, instead of spring onions. As you will notice, the cauliflower became a little mushy and broken in this one:D