Roasted Cauliflower..Indian Style.

I was in hibernation as the wind turned cold and the days got short, making each day a mad dash from one warm place to another. Packed, moved, unpacked yet again and in between all this my poor blog lay neglected, without a kind glance..
Today is Ground Hog Day, so I definitely had to post.. a day made memorable for me by the classic movie of the same name wherein the Bill Murray gets stuck in Punxsutawney, PA and relives the same day over and over over again till he... Well..watch the movie if you can. This is the day when a poor ground hog in Punxsutawney, PA comes out of its hibernation and see a mass of people waiting to see his reaction..
 " According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks."
Apparently, spring is coming early.. the days are already getting longer..
So why am I so excited..?
Well, for one.. this signifies the beginning of the end of the frosty day!! Yahoo!!This has been a relatively mild winter with intermittent spates of freezing cold.. to think positively, if there was no winter, where would I wear all those sweaters and scarfs?
And also for me the last one year has been like reliving the same day over and over again..Get up, pack lunch, drive, work, cook, clean, eat... all verbs, with no fun adjectives to sprinkle around it.  Like a scene from the movie when the hero finally knows the day and road so well that he automatically dodges a pothole and avoid getting splashed on, have fine tuned the day activities to a  semi-automatic form.
 So have to pay homage to the movie and day that I use as a analogy for what our routine sometime becomes!! Is it like that for everyone?

And what's better in this weather than to turn on the oven and roast something with the pretense of cooking while in actuality you just want to heat up the house further. The warmth and the aroma both make this a quick reach for in our house.
I grew up three recipes for cauliflower.. Alu Gobi (Potatoes and cauliflower curried together), Gobi Parantha( Flatbread stuffed with cauliflower) or Cauliflower thoran (Shredded cauliflower steam cooked with coconut).  Spouse refused to espouse the Alu Gobi and over time I forgot how to make it, much as it is a favorite for most. But this roasted cauliflower was adopted with open arms and since it doesn't involve cooking, gets made more often.
It is a healthy vegetable , a cousin of the broccoli family.. its known to lower your risk of cancer, and it is  full of antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties and is loaded with fiber.

You will need:
1 medium cauliflower torn into florets
1 Onion cut into dices
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 whole cloves of garlic (optionally with skin on)
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chlli powder( or paprika)
2-3 tablespoon chopped cilantro


How to do it:
Cut the cauliflower into florets and wash the florets and drain well.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Line a large roasting pan or tray pan with foil. Place the cauliflower florets and onion dices in it. Pour  the olive oil all over the cauliflower, and sprinkle the salt, turmeric, sesame seeds, chili powder, cumin powder and cilantro and mix well with your hand. Add the garlic cloves too. Place the saute/roasting pan in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, checking and stirring to ensure even roasting. Garnish with more chopped cilantro and serve immediately while still warm.

Variations:
Sprinkle a pinch of garam masala if you like.
Use only salt , pepper and finish off with parmesan cheese.
Use only sambar masala and salt.
Tell me your variation.

A Bowl of Noodles...

Left to myself, I would never have learnt cooking beyond variations of Ramen noodles or as it is called in India..Maggi.  A scrambled egg,  some spinach, some kimchi,  a lot of veggies...customize it any way you like and its is a quick meal.  Like it or hate it, it is a comfort food for many and noodles in any form is an easy meal to get to the table.. of course.. ramen is the easiest and if I thought selecting from the flavors of maggi was getting complicated, you just have to walk down the instant noodle aisle in the Asian food stores.. it ranges from the cheapest 4 for a dollar packets to the "pricier" gourmet packets of even two dollars. Plus recently I got introduced to the Nongshim  varieties of ramen...more junk food for me. Since the rest of the family did not (and still does not)  share this passion for over spiced, salty noodles, I had to learn cooking and could not take the easy way out.
So on other days, there is the stir fried noodles made with the endless varieties of noodles that you get here.. dried or fresh cooked ones too..a quick meal with veggies and chicken and egg all thrown as desired!! Spice up the noodles as you like but we like to have the spice on the side.

Boil noodles as per instructions on the package and drain. Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a wok and saute the 1 tsp each of minced ginger garlic lightly. For 4 cup noodles, add about 1/4 cup each of mushrooms, Snow peas, sliced peppers, cabbage, julienne carrots, white parts of the scallions, thinly sliced beans, etc and saute for 3-4 minutes. Then add 2-4 tsp of soy sauce , 2-3 tbsp chicken stock if you have it,  2 tsp sesame oil and  1/2 tsp pepper. Add the noodles, toss well on high heat, add 1 tsp white vinegar and taste for salt. Finally add the green parts of the scallions. Toss with some sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, chili oil, optionally add sriracha sauce, green chili sauce, black pepper sauce etc for an added spice level. I really don't have a recipe.. I start with this and taste and modify as I go along depending on the taste.sometimes heavy on spices and sometimes its light with a side of the ubiquitous chili chicken. You are welcome to leave you modifications in the comments.