Dal Makhani with Roasted Spiced Cauliflower.

Ingredients:

Serves 4:

For the Dal:

250g Black whole urad dal

1 x 400g Tin cooked kidney beans

3 tblsp Ghee butter

1 Onion, finely diced

1 tblsp Grated ginger

4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and grated

1 tsp Dried chilli flakes

1 Cinnamon stick

1 Bay leaf

0.25 tsp Ground cloves

5 Cardamon pods

2 tsp Garam masala

3 Tomatoes, diced into small chunks

200ml Double cream

25g Butter

Salt and white pepper

1 tsp Ground asaefotida

For the roasted cauliflower:

1 Medium cauliflower, leaves removed and cut into quarters top to bottom

150g Natural yoghurt

50g Ground almonds

1 tsp Garam masala

1 tsp Ground turmeric

1 tsp Ground cumin

The juice of a lime

Salt and ground black pepper

To serve:

Fresh coriander

Toasted almonds

Freshly sliced red chilli

Method:

note: the dal is best made the day before and reheated before serving

For the dal:

Soak the lentils over night in cold water.
After soaking, drain the lentils and place them in a sauce pan with a tea spoon of salt and enough water to cover by at least an inch.
Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour.
Drain the kidney beans and roughly crush using a potato masher.
Add the crushed kidney beans to the lentils and simmer for a further half hour.

Drain the water from the lentils and beans and roughly mash, again using a potato masher. Try to keep some shape to lentils.
Heat a heavy based saucepan and heat 3 tablespoons of ghee.
Add the diced onions to the pan and fry until starting to brown.
Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, chilli flakes, cardamon, garam, ground cloves, bay leaf and cinnamon.
Fry for 5-6 minutes on a gentle heat, stirring continuously.
Add the lentils and 250ml water to the pan and season with salt and ground white pepper.
Simmer for two hours on the lowest heat possible, stirring regularly to ensure the lentils aren’t catching on the base of the pan.
10 minutes before the two hours simmering time are up, heat a small frying pan and add the butter along with the asaefotida and heat gently for a few minutes. Add to the lentils along with the double cream.
Bring everything back to a simmer for 10 minutes and remove from the heat.
Allow to stand for at least an hour before gently reheating and serving ( best left overnight)

For the cauliflower:

Pre-heat an oven to 160 degrees C
Lay the quarters of cauliflower flat side down on a baking tray that has been lined with baking parchment.
In a bowl mix the yoghurt, ground almonds, lime juice, masala, cumin and turmeric. Season with salt and ground black pepper and mix thoroughly.
Using a brush or pallet knife, add a thick coating of the spiced yoghurt mix to all the exposed sides of the cauliflower.