Soup #8: Roasted Curried Cauliflower

Our family loves Indian food.  Some of us like things hot and spicy so that little beads of sweat form on the upper lip and you drink your body weight in water, while others in our family like no spice.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.  No spicy heat at all. 

And one in our family only likes tandoori chicken or chicken pakora (closer to a chicken nugget, I guess), so in his mind, he *likes* Indian food.  That's okay.  We'll take it.  I figure that baby steps are a good thing.

 This week's soup was inspired by the flavors of India: Roasted Curried Cauliflower.  Another original creation.  It is very tasty, but it's still lacking something.  Can't put my finger on it. Any suggestions?

 

Roasted Curried Cauliflower Soup

3 heads cauliflower
8-10 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp cumin seed

Mix this together & roast 400 F for about 20-30 min or until cauliflower is softened.  While that's roasting, mix together in a small bowl:
1 tsp ginger (I used roasted ground ginger, but regular ginger is fine or fresh ginger too - add 2 tsp then)
1 tsp garam masala
2 Tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp red pepper (cayenne)
1 tsp turmeric (opt)
When cauliflower is done, put cauliflower mixture, spice mixture, 1 quart chicken stock, 1 can chickpeas, 1 small can of tomato paste in large soup pot & stir.  Heat.  In batches, smooth soup in blender.  Heat again. 

I served this with feta. 

If you like a soup with a little more chunk in it, just set aside a few cupfuls of the cauliflower & blend the rest.  If you're wondering what those little wafer-like things are in the photos, they're mini pappadums that I bought from a local Indian food grocer.  Garlic flavor, of course. 

Comments

[Kristen]

We love Indian food here, too, so this looks especially good to me! The only thing I think I would add would be a small amount of heavy cream or half and half. I would stir it in right at the end, after it comes to a boil so it doesn't curdle. I always think is adds a nice, creamy texture!

[aplayfulday]

I'd have thought maybe 1/2 a tsp or so of ground coriander? And maybe a spoon of yoghurt when serving? I'm not sure. But I've been craving roasted cauliflower for days so I might have to experiment this week and get back to you....

[Ellen]

Thanks for the ideas! Stirring in some cream or yogurt would make it a tad creamier. And yes, I have coriander in the house. Next time, I'll try that out. I'm all for experimenting, but forget to write changes down and have to start from square one again.

[Jen]

The things you find out about your friends when you read the comments. We too are big Indian Food lovers. We fell in love eating lots of indian food. I make a mean chicken tikki masala....but I'm not all that into the spice. Brett however is! I have some cauliflower rotting .. I mean freezing in the deep freezer. Perhaps I'lltry this.