I’ve always said that if a recipe takes too long to read, it takes too long to cook. But sometimes the ingredients list alone at the foot of this page often looks so short as to be the product of a forgetful mind. Not that it is, of course.

This recipe, though, requires 17 ingredients, which sounds awfully daunting until you realise that you probably have most of them to hand already.

Onions and garlic are the basis of so many good dishes that you would be bereft without them, and a good spice collection should already include mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and garam masala. I imagine you already have vegetable oil, tinned tomatoes, salt and sugar. So all you need to do is pick up the fresh things on the way home — cauliflower, ginger, chilli and spinach — and you’re well on the way to a lovely dinner.

Ingredients

Serves 4
Prep 15min
Cook 40min

1kg cauliflower
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
3cm knob ginger, shredded
1 mild fresh green chilli
1tsp mustard seeds
1tsp ground cumin or cumin seeds
1tsp ground coriander
half tsp ground turmeric
pinch of cayenne pepper
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1tsp garam masala
1tsp salt
1tsp sugar
150g baby spinach
2tbsp coriander leaves

METHOD

Cut the cauliflower into small florets and blanch for 3 mins. Drain, reserving 250ml water. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook the onions gently for 5 mins, stirring. Add garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for 4 mins. In a second frying pan, heat remaining oil and fry mustard seeds until they start to pop. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne, stirring well, then cauliflower, tossing well. Add onion mixture, tomatoes, 250ml water, garam masala, salt and sugar and simmer for 10 mins or until cauliflower is tender and sauce is thickened. Pile spinach leaves on top, cover and leave for 5 mins to wilt, then stir through.

Scatter with coriander and serve with rice and pickles.

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