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Food Talk
There was a time when cauliflower was our favourite vegetable. We couldn’t have enough of it before the season ended. Those were the pre-cold storage days. Now with the year-round availability, some of the lustre, along with lots of taste, is lost. Old flame flickers in the wind of changing times but our puppy love, we are happy to disclose, survives. Now the jaded palate is tickled and teased by hitherto untried recipes. It can be komlakapi from Bengal prepared with sweet oranges or peanut enriched gravy some other day drawing upon the Deccani repertoire. We have even tried out the Bhagalpuri phool ki kheer as an unusual desert.
Cauliflower florets don’t carry the tint of turmeric or a trace of overpowering spices. Yet, sprinkled with bitter-tasting fenugreek leaves or crumbled dried kasoori methi have an unmatched elegance. We were totally bowled over. It presents itself as a salad like summer special, enjoyable hot or at room temperature. Phool patte
Method
Heat oil in a thick bottom frying pan, then put in the whole spices. When these began to crackle, add gobhi and stir-fry on low medium flame for two-three minutes. Now add the methi leaves or kasoori methi and continue cooking for another one to two minutes. Sprinkle salt and pour in 1 tsp of lemon juice. Remove the whole spices before serving.
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The light and elegant
phool patte presents itself as a salad-like summer special, enjoyable hot or at room temperature
We thought we had
sampled all that was in public or private domain till we were humbled
by phool patte. The Muslim lady, who gifted it to us, prefers
anonymity to fame and we are constrained to limit our additional notes
to stating that the light and elegant dish is a variation on the tarqelazzat
menu prescribed for the celebratory mourning during Muharram.
Tarqelazzat translates as renunciation of taste and colours in food
during this period that commemorates the martyrdom of Hasan and
Hussein in the battlefield of Qarbala.
Boil water in a pan and blanch the gobhi in it for a minute. Plunge in ice-cold water to refresh. Clean and wash the methi leaves and chop these coarsely. You may retain a short length of the stems if you like.