Spiced Cauliflower Soup, Onion and Sweet Potato Bhajis.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

For the soup:

1 Large cauliflower, core removed and cut into small florettes

1 Large onion, sliced

200g Potato, peeled and diced

2 Sticks of celery, thinly sliced

3 Cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp Grated ginger

2 tsp Madras curry powder

0.5 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Salt

0.25 tsp Ground white pepper

100g Creamed coconut

750ml Vegetable stock

For the Bhajis

2 Red onions, finely sliced

100g Sweet potato, peeled and grated

1 tsp Salt

0.25 tsp Ground white pepper

0.25 tsp Turmeric powder

0.5 tsp Ground cumin

0.25 tsp Chilli powder

100g Gram Flour

Vegetable oil for frying

To garnish the soup:

Toasted almonds

Pomegranate seeds

Picked coriander

Method:

For the soup:

Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan with 2 table spoons of vegetable oil.
Add the onions, potato, celery, garlic and ginger and stir, cook on a low heat with the lid on for 4 minutes.
Add the madras, turmeric, salt and pepper and stir, then add the cauliflower stir again and replace the lid, cook for another 10 minutes on a low heat.
Add the vegetable stock and creamed coconut and simmer for 5 minutes
Check all the vegetables are cooked through and transfer to a food processor to blend until smooth
Return to the pan

For the bhajis:

In a bowl put all the ingredients except the gram flour, stir thoroughly and leave for 20 minutes, the salt should extract the liquid from the onions.
Add the gram flour and mix, this should now form a stiff batter.
Heat a frying pan vegetable oil 1 cm deep, test the heat of the oil by adding a little of the bhaji batter, it should bubble and begin to brown.
Add the bhaji mix about 0.75 tblsp at a time, spacing out in the pan.
Fry the bhajis on each side until golden brown then remove from the pan onto kitchen roll.