Earlier this month we visited Copenhagen for our friends’ wedding. The bride and groom being foodies and travellers too, we had the happy opportunity to sample some great Danish food as part of the wedding celebrations! Wedding done on Friday, we also took advantage of the weekend that lay ahead to do a bit of foodie travelling. Chilly winds notwithstanding. A bout of food poisoning notwithstanding!
Two sets of friends recommended Ashers in Wembley for their theplas. Theplas are thin Gujarati flatbreads made with wheat flour, fenugreek and spices. So after one aborted attempt at getting ourselves there and a day of whining that followed, we jumped into the car impulsively one Saturday evening when we got bored of lounging on the couch, and drove to Ashers Africana restaurant.
Cauliflower rice substitute recipe
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
Cauliflower - 1 large
Curry leaves - 1 sprig (10-12 leaves)
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chillies - 2
Salt
Oil
Instructions
Break the leaves and stem off the cauliflower, wash and grate
Peel and finely chop the garlic
Wash and finely chop the chillies
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan on medium
When hot, crackle the mustard seeds
Then add the garlic and chillies and sauté for 2 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown
Add the curry leaves and sauté for 30 seconds
Add the grated cauliflower, turn over several times to ensure it's coated with the spices
Sprinkle salt, and mix through again
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.
The cauliflower rice is cooked when soft to bite