Spiced Roasted Cauliflower with Toasted Almonds

This is a great autumnal comfort dish (turmeric is a proven mood enhancer if eaten once a week). It will also help to balance your budget as cauli is currently one of Aldi's Super 6, at 59p each, until October 22nd. Grab yourself the largest one you can find as it will have more flavour. And don't forget you can use the discarded outer leaves along with other leftover veg to make excellent homemade veg stock. Frozen cauliflower works just as well if you already have some stashed away. This dish can be eaten as a side or main and could easily be bulked out by adding potatoes to the roasting tray. 

You will need (serves 4 as a main meal or 6 as a side dish)

1 head of a large cauliflower broken into florets  
Juice and zest of one large lemon 
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger or Very Lazy Ginger
2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh coriander leaves
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1 handful of blanched almonds (25g or less)
Lemon wedges to garnish (optional)
Coriander leaves for garnish (optional)

Method

First put the cauliflower florets into a large bowl. Mix together the lemon juice, zest and all of the spices including the coriander leaves but not the cumin seeds. Pour this mixture over the cauliflower and stir well until the florets are evenly coated. Leave the cauliflower to absorb the spices for about 2 hours turning occasionally. After 2 hours preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. When the oven is ready, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and allow to sizzle until they become aromatic. At this point pour the cumin mixture over the cauliflower. Spoon the cauliflower and spice mixture into a large baking tray. Place in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until the florets are crisp and browned. Halfway through the 30 minutes turn the cauliflower. Finally, place the almonds in a frying pan and toast for a few seconds until golden. Scatter the toasted almonds over the roasted cauliflower and serve with fresh coriander leaves and lemon wedges (if using). Colourful, crisp and spicy.

We enjoyed this as a side with aubergine daal, basmati rice, chapatis, raita and chutney. A feast. Having a growing repertoire of easy vegetarian curry dishes means we can enjoy our favourite Indian food whenever we fancy, without getting bored, and at little cost.