Aloo Gobi

In my household, I really try to make balanced dinners.  What usually ends up happening on nights we don't have frozen pizza or cereal for dinner (we are going to make stellar parents one day..) we end up with the meat+starch+vegetable formula.  Vegetables are either frozen or out of a can, and if I remember, maybe a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  It is so boring, I am bored just telling you about it.  Every day of my life I have intentions to eat more vegetables, and be healthy and strong, and the frozen broccoli ain't cutting it.  Needless to say, when I looked this dish over I just knew it would be a hit, and the most interesting vegetable to ever adorn a plate in the Hinkley household.

It takes minimal effort beyond microwaving the steam-in-a-bag peas to whip up this colorful and tasty cauliflower and potato dish.  It almost looks like popcorn too, so that might be a good way to fool the little ones into eating vegetables!

You will need:

2 TBSP sunflower oil

1/2 TSP cumin seeds

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1 Serrano chili - slightly punctured with a knife for less spicy, cut from stem to tip (but not split in two pieces) for most spicy

1/2 in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 large Yukon gold or red skinned potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 TSP ground coriander

1/2 TSP ground turmeric

1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/2 pounds) trimmed into bite sized florets

1 small tomato, diced

1/4 cup water

Kosher salt

1/2 lime

Handful of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Fresh ground black pepper

In a large saute pan, heat the oil on medium high heat until almost smoking.  Add the cumin seeds to the oil (they should immediately sizzle) and crushed garlic.  In a few seconds the garlic should be golden brown on one side.  

Flip over the garlic, then add in the onions, Serrano, and ginger.  Stir everything together.  You are wanting to cook everything until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes.  If they appear to be browning and becoming crispy too fast, lower the heat.  

Next toss in the potato, coriander, and turmeric.  Stir and try to get the potatoes well coated in the spice blend.  Cook for 3-4 minutes to seal in those flavors.  Repeat for the cauliflower.  Add to pan, toss to coat and allow to cook for a few minutes in the spices.

Now add the tomato, water, and a teaspoon of Kosher salt.  Cover your pan, and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for around 25-30 minutes until both potato and cauliflower are cooked through.  Add the squeeze of lime juice and the chopped cilantro to finish the dish off.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt/lime/pepper if need be for your personal tastes.  Enjoy!