Curried Cauliflower with Chick Peas and Roasted Tomato

This is a modification of a wonderful recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking.  It is terrific as a side dish or over rice as a main dish.  For non-vegetarians, a terrific modification is to add consider adding peeled, deveined shrimp rather than the chick peas.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium or large head of cauliflower, stemmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 14-oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas), well-rinsed and well drained
4-5 T canola or regular olive oil (a splash of mustard oil is nice if you have it on hand)
1T black mustard seeds
1T fennel seeds
14-oz roasted diced tomatoes
approximately 14 ounces water
a pinch of cayenne pepper or chili powder

PREPARING YOUR INGREDIENTS

Rinse and drain the chick peas.  Allow them to sit until they are fairly dry, shaking off excess water.  Canned or softened from dry will work fine.  A 14-oz can or 1 1/2 cups is a perfect amount for this recipe.

One secret to cooking delicious cauliflower is to allow it to off-gas prior to cooking or serving.  Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces.  Place in a large bowl and cover with water.  Allow the cauliflower to sit like this for at least 1/2 hour.  Then drain well.

RECIPE
While the cauliflower is soaking, put oil in a large skillet on high heat (one which you have a cover), a stock pot or dutch oven.  The oil should be about 1/8" thick in the pan. Whatever will hold the ingredients so that the cauliflower is spread as thinly as possible is best.  Use a thick bottomed pan if you have one because you want to control the heat of the pot.  It is very easy to scorch the food in a thin pan. I used my enamel coated cast iron for this recipe.

Throw in the mustard and fennel seed.  When the seeds begin to pop, add the drained and dry as possible chick peas.  Note that the water on the surface will cause the very hot oil to splatter, so be very careful.  You may want to wear an oven mitt so that you aren't burned.

Allow any water to boil off and the peas to fry and brown lightly in the oil, stirring occasionally.  Once they have begun to brown, add the cauliflower and stir thoroughly.  Allow the cauliflower to slightly brown in the oil, stirring only occasionally (but keep your eye on it because you are on high heat).  Once it begins to brown, add enough water to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add your tomatoes and mix through.

Now, you are going to steam the cauliflower. Add enough water so that you can easily steam the cauliflower (should be about equal in total to the amount of tomato you added).  You might also choose to add some tomato sauce if you prefer this dish to be more tomato-y.  Add a pinch (1/8t) or more of cayenne pepper, depending on your taste.  A tiny bit of heat is nice.  If you are out of cayenne or it is too hot for you, chili powder will work fine.  You still only want a small amount or the dish will be bitter.

Leaving the heat on high, over the pan and allow the cauliflower to steam for 8-9 minutes.  Be mindful of the amount of liquid in the pot to avoid burning the cauliflower.

Serve over saffron-lemon rice or simply as as side dish. If you would like to add shrimp, they are best added during the steaming portion of cooking.

Enjoy!