045/18: Whole Roasted Cauliflower Mussalam (Gobhi Mussalam)
I enjoyed the Cauliflower Shawarma dish so much that I have been keen to cook a few more veg dishes. Next up on the list was Whole Roasted Cauliflower Mussalam (Gobhi Mussalam). The dish is described as coming from the royal court kitchens of Uttar Pradesh, where it was a favourite of state banquets, high society and Mughal emperors.
The recipe was from the book Fresh India by Meera Sodha:
The Ingredients:
Everything should be easy to get from the supermarket except for Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves) – I got 100g from Amazon for £3.99.
The Charcoal:
When my Kamado Joe Big Joe arrived it came with a bag of Big Block charcoal. The charcoal comes from Argentinian hardwood known locally as “Axe Breaker!” – The KJ has been really efficient with fuel, quite impressive! There is loads of the Big Block in the fire basket left to burn so I fired it up again for this cook. The bottom and top vents were fully open and the lid up to get up to temp – aiming for around 200c so closing both vents to about a quarter once the lid was down after 20 – 30 minutes.
The Prep:
2 medium cauliflowers, leaves removed and bottom cut so they would sit flat in a pan. Thoroughly rubbed with rapeseed oil then seasoned with Maldon Sea Salt and Black Pepper.
The Cook:
With the KJ running around 200c I put the Cauliflower pan in with the lid on then put 60g of butter in a cast iron pan to melt. 
After a few minutes, chopped onions were added to the butter. After around 10 minutes they were soft and golden at which point ginger and garlic were added. A few minutes later plum tomatoes were also added to the pan along with some water.
5 minutes later ground almonds, cinnamon, kasoori methi, cloves, chilli powder and salt were added (and stirred in after I took this photo!)
After a few minutes the sauce had taken on a great colour but also smelt fantastic!
In the excitement I missed part of the recipe where it says to pour the sauce over the cauliflower and cook uncovered for a while. This would be a good chance to add smoke wood chips for a touch of smoke in the dish. My cauliflowers were fairly soft and ready to come out so I poured the sauce on at that point. Next time I would check the cauliflower more often through the cook and get the sauce on earlier along with a touch of smoke.
Time to Eat:
Cauliflower served up with the sauce on top then chopped, roasted almonds and coriander.
Time to cut through, any pink? 😉
Summary:
Really enjoyed this dish, the sauce was fantastic and had a really nice taste which I think was enhanced by the kasoori methi. Pretty simple to prepare and cook but it had a lovely taste. When I have eaten veg dishes in the past I end up hungry later but both cauliflower dishes have really filled me up, no snacking!
Leftovers reheated for lunch the next day tasted even better!
| Cook Difficulty: | 2/5 |
| Cook Duration: | Quick: 2/5 |
| Cook Equipment: | Kamado Joe |
| Cook Method: | Direct |
| Charcoal: | KJ Big Block |
| Smoking Wood: | N/A |
| Cook temperature: | Unknown |
| Cook time: | 50 minutes |
| Internal temperature: | Unknown |
| Notes: | Cook the cauliflower less then add the sauce and cook uncovered to add some smoke. |
THE BOOK:
If you like the look of this recipe you can buy the book from Amazon (£13.60) by clicking the picture below: