Cauliflower Coconut Curry

Do you have a favorite meal that is cooked by someone you love? Ya know, you’re nana’s peach cobbler that’s to-die-for or your brother-in-law’s guacamole that knocks everyone’s socks off? One of my all-time favorite dishes is my boyfriend, Connor’s, Vegan Cauliflower Curry.

I’m like a child waiting for Disneyland as he cooks it.

Bonding in the Kitchen

One of my favorite ways to bond with people is in the kitchen. It’s where I grew closer to my step mother, covered in flour while making Christmas cookies. Cooking together was a way of connecting with people on my Remote Year trip around the world.

Cooking New Years dinner in Cordoba, Argentina

It’s now such a special experience for me to share the kitchen with a partner who can cook.

In my past relationships, I played the traditional role of homemaker. I was in charge of the kitchen and very rarely did I receive help. As controlling as I am, it never bothered me much.

Until I was in a relationship where we both cook together and I found a new way to fall in love. There is something so sexy about creating a meal together. It’s true teamwork as one of us chops away and the other tosses around the sauteing veggies.

We both have dishes that we are super comfortable making. I’ll whip out my homemade chili to stock up on meals for the week and Con was patiently taught me how to make a delicious fried rice.

Learning the Curry Things

I’m most impressed when Connor teaches me new things in the kitchen, as he did with this curry recipe. Even though I’ve been active in the kitchen since childhood, we didn’t really cook with whole spices.

My favorite part of this curry recipe is the spices! Connor dry roasts the whole spices – curry seeds, coriander, cardamom, and cloves – on the stove top. It adds to the richness of the flavors and a little smokiness that I adore.

And it’s easier than I thought! Just keep the temperature low and toss the spices regularly until they look well toasted.

The only challenging bit that you may mess up (I have) is adding ground spices too early or burning them. My tip? If you’re adding a ground version of the spices (as we had with curry this time around), I’d just pull it off the burner completely and toss it around in the hot pan to get the roasted flavor.

Then, you can throw the spices in a blender or food processor. We’ve also used a mortar and pestle when we didn’t have the convenience of a blender option.

You can also make a bunch of it all at once and store the ground spices in a jar for future curry-making fun.

Also, we made about double the suggested recipe when we made this batch, so don’t be too bothered by the photos not matching the suggestions in the recipe.

Cauliflower Curry Time!

Just a head up, this recipe is full of LOVE. It’s not a quick one, so make sure you set aside some time for cooking when you’re ready for this curry recipe.

Even better? Recruit some help and enjoy cooking and bonding together!

Time: 60 minutes total
Difficulty: easy
Print

This recipe is full of flavor and fits most dietary restrictions! We love serving it on a bed of rice, but you can also add protein with some quinoa. For some extra greens, add a side of sauteed kale! Special note on the whole spices: You can switch them out for the powdered versions, but use about 1/3 of the suggested measurement and don’t roast it.

Ingredients

1 lg head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 onion, thinly slices
1 lime, juiced
3 small red chilies, thinly sliced (or 1-2 ts chili powder)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1″ ginger, peeled and minced
large handful cilantro, chopped (optional)
2+ tbs coconut oil
1 can coconut cream
8 cardamom pods, seeds only
6 full cloves
1 tbs coriander seeds/li>
1 tbs cumin seeds
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 ts turmeric

Directions

1. Take a dry frying pan and add the cardamom seeds, cloves, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds. On low to medium head, toss the spices until they’re toasted. (If you’re using the powder version of any of the spices, you can add them to the pan at the end, removed from the heat and toss around a little bit for minimum roasting.)
2. Grind the spices into a powder using a blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle.
3. In a large frying pan or wok, add the oil, onions, garlic, ginger, and chilies on medium heat. Stir or toss regularly until the onions start to brown on the edges.
4. Add the dry spice mix, salt and pepper, turmeric, and lime juice to the onion mix. Stir thoroughly. (Pro tip – hold back on adding ALL the spices. Everyone has different preferences. Start with less and you can always add more.)
5. Add the cauliflower, tossing everything together for a couple minutes.
6. Pour in the coconut cream and mix thoroughly. Allow the curry to continue cooking for 10+ minutes, stirring occasionally. As the curry cooks, the mixture should become a bit thicker (less watery) and the cauliflower should cook all the way through. This is a great time for taste testing if you want to add more spices, salt, etc. If the curry is sticking to the pan too much, add a bit more coconut oil.
7. When the curry is ready, toss in the majority of the chopped cilantro. Serve on a bed of rice and garnish with the remaining cilantro.

Anyone else a messy cook?

Dig in and enjoy!

What’s your favorite thing to whip up in the kitchen? Have a vegan recipe you’d love me to try out and share on the blog? Email it to Taryn@theremoteyogi.com!

Thanks for bonding with me,