Recipes

Cauli cheese

Ingredients
2 heads cauliflower
25g butter
25g flour
300ml milk
200g cheddar , grated
parsley , chopped to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Steam the mini heads of cauliflower until just tender. Melt the butter in a pan then stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes. Gradually add the milk to make a smooth sauce. Stir in the cheddar until melted. Place the cauliflower heads into small ovenproof dishes and pour over the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden and bubbling. Sprinkle with parsley.

Spiced vegetable biriyani

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small cauliflower , broken into small florets
2 large sweet potatoes , peeled and cubed
1 large onion , sliced
1l vegetable stock
3 tbsp hot curry paste (Madras is good)
1 red chilli , seeded and finely chopped
large pinch of saffron strands
2 tsp mustard seeds (black or white)
500g basmati rice
140g trimmed green beans , halved
2 lemons , juice only
a handful of fresh coriander leaves
50g roasted cashew nuts
pappadoms and raita, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C. Pour the oil into a large roasting tin or ovenproof dish and put in the oven for a couple of minutes to heat through. Add all the vegetables to the tin, except the beans, stirring to coat them in the hot oil.

Season with salt and pepper and return to the oven for 15 minutes until beginning to brown. While the vegetables are roasting, stir together the stock, curry paste, chilli, saffron and mustard seeds. Mix the rice and green beans with the vegetables in the tin, then pour over the stock mixture.

Lower the oven to 190C/gas 5/fan 190C. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the lemon juice and check the seasoning, then scatter over the coriander and cashew nuts. Serve with a pile of pappadoms and a bowl of raita.

Making your own raita

You can buy tubs of ready-made raita, the cooling yogurt-based condiment served with Indian food, from supermarkets. Or, to make your own, simply mix half a finely chopped cucumber and half a small finely chopped red onion with 200g/8oz natural yogurt, then stir in one tbsp chopped mint, a little salt and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.