Madhur Jaffrey is a James Beard Hall of Famer who’s written some of the most seminal cookbooks about Indian food in the Western world. She recently joined Good Food to talk about her new cookbook , which adapts some of the greatest recipes in the Indian culinary canon for the Instant Pot.
CAULIFLOWER WITH CILANTRO AND GINGER
SERVES 4–5
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon My Garam Masala
Freshly ground black pepper, a generous grinding
1
8
– ¼ teaspoon chili powder
3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
¼ teaspoon whole black or brown mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
One 1¾ -pound head cauliflower, with thick central stem and leaves discarded and the head broken into florets (each floret should have a stem and be about 1½–2 inches long and about 1½ inches in diameter at its head)
1½ teaspoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
1 lightly packed cup chopped cilantro leaves
½–1 fresh hot green bird’s-eye chili, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
This may be served with a lamb or poultry dish along with rice or a flatbread. It is
light and lemony and is one of my favorite dishes for entertaining. In the summer, you may serve it cold as part of a buffet.
- Combine the salt, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, and chili powder in a small bowl and set aside.
- Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set to More for 30 minutes. When the screen says Hot, pour in the oil. A few seconds later, scatter in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping, a matter of seconds, put in all the cauliflower. Stir the cauliflower now and then for 5 minutes. Add the ginger and give a few quick stirs, then add the dry spice mixture and stir a few more times. Add the cilantro and green chilies, give a few more stirs, then put in the lemon juice and stir once. Add ¾ cup water and hit CANCEL to stop the cooking process.
- Close and seal the lid. Set the pot to LOW PRESSURE for 1 minute. As soon as the screen says 1, hit CANCEL and quickly release all the steam manually. Open the lid, venting the remaining steam away from you. Select the SAUTÉ setting set to More and boil off most of the liquid, stirring gently from the bottom as you do so. Taste for balance of flavors. Wearing oven mitts, lift out the inner pot from the outer pot to stop the cauliflower from cooking any more.
Excerpted from Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2019 by Madhur Jaffrey. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Author and chef Madhur Jaffrey. Photo credit: Christopher Hirsheimer
The front cover of "Madhur Jaffrey's Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot" by Madhur Jaffrey. Photo credit: Knopf Publishing