Cauliflower Kurma (Tamil Nadu Restaurant Style Cauliflower Chops) Recipe

When you visit a good veg restaurant in Chennai for dinner you will find it difficult to miss the sight and smell of a favourite dinner tiffin of the Chennai people, the ‘Parotta-Chops’ or in other words Paratha with yellow coloured kurma. This Kurma or Chops is typically made with Cauliflower as its key ingredient with almost a burji texture.  Cauliflower (gobi), Tomato, Shallots, Green Chillies, Garlic, Ginger, Turmeric powder (Haldi), Cumin powder (Jeera), Salt, Fresh coconut, Fennel seeds (Saunf), Cashew nuts, Poppy seeds, Coriander (Dhania) Seeds, Roasted Gram Dal (Pottukadalai), Dry Red Chillies, Coconut Oil, Cloves (Laung), Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds, Star anise, Bay leaf (tej patta), Curry leaves   1 Cauliflower (gobi) , roughly chopped into smaller pieces 1 Tomato , finely chopped 15 to 20 Shallots , finely chopped 3 to 4 Green Chillies , cut lengthwise 4 cloves Garlic , grated 1 inch Ginger , grated 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1/4 teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera) Salt , to taste For the ground masala paste 4 teaspoons Fresh coconut , finely chopped 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf) 1 teaspoon Cashew nuts , approximately 6-8 1 teaspoon Poppy seeds 1/2 teaspoon Coriander (Dhania) Seeds 1 teaspoon Roasted Gram Dal (Pottukadalai) 2 Dry Red Chillies For tempering 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil 1 Cloves (Laung) 1 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds 1 Star anise 1 Bay leaf (tej patta) 1 sprig Curry leaves     20   60     To begin making the Cauliflower Kurma recipe, soak the ingredients given under ‘masala paste’ in 1/4 cup of warm water for 20 minutes and then grind them to a fine paste using little water in a grinder.Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the chopped cauliflower and cook them for 5 minutes and switch off the stove.Drain the water and set aside the cauliflower.Heat a wide pan or wok over low flame with coconut oil. Add all the ingredients mentioned under ‘for tempering’.Now add the grated ginger, garlic, chopped shallots, tomatoes and a pinch of salt.Keep stirring till the onions turn transparent and the tomatoes mushy.Add turmeric powder, cumin powder and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.Now, add the boiled cauliflower and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.When the cauliflower is completely soft boiled, add the ground masala paste and salt.Mix well and cook over low flame for another 5 minutes only.Switch off and garnish. Cauliflower Kurma is a tasty, healthy and popular side dish served along with appam, idiyappam, phulka or malabar paratha.