FRIED CAULIFLOWER

Bangladesh has very rich and fertile soil mainly because of all the rivers flowing through the country and the presence of delta. There are several studies regarding this. I have lived in both Japan and US. But vegetables are so much cheaper in Bangladesh. My diet contains mostly of vegetables and you can imagine how expensive it can get here in the States. Cauliflower is one of my favorite exotic winter vegetables. Numerous dishes in Bangladeshi cuisine use cauliflower as a staple. Being my favorite vegetable (yes you got me, I am a hardcore veg-lover ^_^), I use cauliflower in many, many, many dishes. One of those dishes is fried cauliflower. It can be either stir-fried or deep fried. This recipe focuses on the deep fried cauliflowers. 

So, there are basically two star elements:

1. Batter 

2. Cauliflower 

BATTER

To make the batter, I added my spices - turmeric powder and red chili powder - to the all purpose flour. For the cauliflowers to come out crunchy and crispy, I added corn meal. There are other better components that add crispiness. I hope to try them out and come up with an update in near future. But so far, this turned out really crispy. Oh! Can't forget the salt.

CAULIFLOWER 

I like to boil the cauliflowers beforehand until it's tender. It is not a necessary step, I have seen my mom get the right tenderness while frying them but I have a hard time getting right. They are either over caramelized or under cooked. Take out the cauliflowers while it is slightly under cooked, the rest of the cooking will be done while frying them. Season the cauliflower with a little pinch of salt. You can use black pepper too but I personally find the taste of it a little overpowering. 

FRYING

I coated the cauliflowers with the batter and deep-fried them until they were golden brown. Make sure to take it out right after it is golden brown, or else it will get the bitter taste almost immediately. I have a strange liking towards fried food being a little darker than golden brown, I almost like the bitter taste. But in this case, even I couldn't survive the taste.

Ingredient:

1/2 pcs     cauliflower

1 cup         all-purpose flour

2 tbsp       corn meal

1/2 tsp      turmeric powder

1/2 tsp      red chili powder

Fried cauliflowers can be eaten as snacks or appetizers sided with a dip. My personal favorite is using as a side dish with steamed rice. It is a very simple dish, goes really well when you want to have something light.