I'm meant to be following my high protein, low carb diet assiduously. The truth of the matter, though, is that I love my rice and rotis and parathas too much. So I've been racking my brain about what a potential rice substitute could be. Then last week I experimented with cauliflower 'rice', and it's not the real thing of course, but it comes fairly close! What prompted me to think of messing around with cauliflower were two factors: I had one lying in the fridge and it didn't look like either of us had any other plans for it, and because cauliflower pizza bases are all a rage on Pinterest. So I figured, why not rice?

Here's my recipe, tell me what you think. If you have a low-carb rice substitute idea, do share!

Serves 3

Prep Time - 15 min

Cook Time - 40 min

Total Time - 55 min

Ingredients

1. Cauliflower - 1 large

2. Curry leaves - 1 sprig (10-12 leaves)

3. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

4. Garlic - 3 cloves

5. Green chillies - 2

6. Salt

7. Oil

Instructions

1. Break the leaves and stem off the cauliflower, wash and grate

2. Peel and finely chop the garlic

3. Wash and finely chop the chillies

4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan on medium

5. When hot, crackle the mustard seeds

6. Then add the garlic and chillies and sauté for 2 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown

7. Add the curry leaves and sauté for 30 seconds

8. Add the grated cauliflower, turn over several times to ensure it's coated with the spices

9. Sprinkle salt, and mix through again

10. Cover and cook on low for about 30-35 minutes, turning over occasionally, to prevent it from sticking to the base. You may need to add a little water if you feel it's sticking. Try and avoid doing this though, and see if turning the heat down to low helps.

11. The cauliflower rice is cooked when soft to bite