How about some crispy cauliflower on a rainy day?
My crispy cauliflower is a grilled version but draws inspiration from a childhood favorite of mine. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, cauliflower is a universal favorite in the household. As a child, we used to eat vegetable fritters coated with spiced besan (roasted whole gram flour) batter and deep-fried. Boy! Did they taste heavenly? They would almost always be a part of the grand vegetarian spread or even served as an afternoon snack with some masala chai.
To make this dish, I decided to remove the deep frying. This means you will need an oven for this preparation. Also, I swapped besan for rice flour and included some fine sooji (semolina) for the added crunch. I served it as a snack alongside some oven roasted amaranth crisps. Try this next time for your very quick rainy day fix! Scroll down for the recipe.
Ingredients
- Cauliflower florets (cut into small bite sized portions): 250gm
- Rice flour: ½ cup
- Semolina(sooji): ½ cup
- Red chili sauce (I used a combination of Maggi Hot and Sweet and Sriracha sauce)-2 tablespoons
- Salt and pepper- ½ teaspoon or to taste
- Vegetable oil-1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Blanch the cauliflower florets in salted hot boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook
- Make your rice flour batter by adding ¼ cup warm water to the rice flour and whisking well. Make sure there are no lumps and the batter is thick enough to coat the cauliflower, somewhat thinner than a pancake batter
- Add salt, pepper and red chili sauce to the rice batter and mix well
- Line a baking tray with foil. Dip the florets in spiced rice flour batter one by one followed by rolling them into a shallow bowl with semolina. Make sure the semolina evenly coats the florets making a uniform layer for consistent cooking. Drizzle some oil on the prepared florets
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and roast until the florets are cooked and crispy, about 20-25 minutes. Halfway through the process, I took them out and doused some more chili sauce for a spicier version
- Serve hot as is or with a yogurt/mayo dip on the side. If you are not serving the dish right away, warm it in a preheated oven for 5-7 minutes just before serving
Notes
Calories (per portion)- 88 Nutrition- Protein/Fiber/Vitamins C, K, B6/Folate/Potassium/Magnesium It does wonders for your- Muscles/Gut/Immunity/Heart/Eyes This is “My 3pm Meal”
[kkstarratings]