Roasted spiced cauliflower with caramelised garlic yoghurt
As far as impressive side dishes go, this is pretty up there! Whole roasted cauliflower looks so impressive on a festive table, and it goes well with a wide range of other dishes.
Ingredients
- olive oil for cooking
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 lemon zest
- 1 cauliflower (large whole head)
- lemon juice of ½
Caramelised garlic yoghurt sauce
- 1 bulb garlic unpeeled
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
To serve
- ¼ cup sliced almonds lightly toasted chopped
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley or coriander chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C. Mix 2 Tbsp of oil, spices, salt and zest into a paste. Cut top off garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and wrap loosely in tinfoil.
- Bring a full kettle of water to the boil. Trim stalk on cauliflower so it will stand upright with a flat base. Keep the leaves on if you can (as they go nice and crispy). Place cauliflower upright in a colander and pour boiling water all over to lightly blanch it.
- Pat cauliflower dry with paper towels. Use a large, sharp knife to cut cauliflower in half from the top down through the stalk. Place both halves in a roasting dish (cut-side up) and rub all over with spice paste. Drizzle generously with olive oil and squeeze over lemon juice. Place garlic bulb parcel in the roasting dish.
- Roast for about 50 minutes or until cauliflower is a deep, charred, golden colour. Turn over halfway through to give both sides a chance to brown.
- Carefully squeeze caramelised garlic out of the skins without burning yourself (using paper towels helps), into a bowl. Mash garlic, mix in yoghurt and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- To serve, spread a generous amount of garlic yoghurt over a serving plate and place cauliflower halves on top. Dollop over a little more garlic yoghurt and scatter with almonds, pomegranate seeds and coriander or parsley.
Mix it up:
- You can turn this dish into more of a salad by cutting the cauliflower up into florets, tossing with spice paste and roasting (without blanching) for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, arrange on a platter and scatter with remaining ingredients. Serve drizzled with garlic yoghurt.
Notes
This would be a great dish to bring to a potluck, as you could prepare it in advance and serve room temperature. You can turn this dish into more of a salad by cutting the cauliflower up into florets, tossing with spice paste and roasting (without blanching) for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, arrange on a platter and scatter with remaining ingredients. Serve drizzled with garlic yoghurt.
You could easily make this dish vegan and dairy-free by using coconut yoghurt instead of Greek.
This recipe is from a story in the December/January issue of NADIA magazine all about Christmas side dishes.