Day 68 - Stir fried Cauliflower with Curry leaves & long pepper (South Indian)

Truly unforgettable restaurant dishes leave you longing for more, and yet even as you crave the exact flavors, there is a certain joy in reverse engineering a close enough version that you can savor as your own,. This stir fry is a signature dish at the Dakshin Restaurant at the Park Sheraton in Chennai. It  gets its unique flavoring from Long pepper and curry leaves.



You need:

3 cups Cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons oil
1 sprig curry leaves, torn
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 red arbol chile
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon spice blend of long pepper, pepper & cumin (to make this combine 2 long peppers, 10-12 peppercorns and 1 tablespoon cumin and coarsely crush in a mortar)
wedges of lime (optional)

Steam the florets until they lose their raw aroma but still retain a crunch. Heat the oil in a skillet and once the oil begins to shimmer, add the mustard and the arbol chile in to pop and turn reddish brown respectively. Lower the heat and add the curry leaves. Toss in the florets along with the salt & spice blend, cover the skillet and allow the flavors to combine. (~ 5-7 minutes). Serve warm drizzling with the lime juice if needed.