I rarely repeat dishes, but this was a reprise of a dish from a previous dinner. The first time was with "deep-fried chicken stock", but this time I used brown butter solids. Brown butter solids definitely have a different flavor profile from the chicken stock solids, which are almost coffee-like in the level of brown-ness. In fact, if I make this again and it has to be vegetarian again, maybe I'll add some coffee component.
Otherwise, the dish is just roasted cauliflower, a puree of roasted cauliflower with vadouvan spices (pressure-cooked together briefly in order to soften them adequately to make the smoothest puree), and a bit of cilantro. My vadouvan is loosely based on this formula, but I add a bit more sweetness and cut out the heat. Tasty and simple.
This is probably the simplest dish I've done for Lazy Bear.
Simplified Vadouvan
This version of Vadouvan doesn't have any chilis in it, hence it is not "spicy" in the normal terminology. If you want it spicy, throw in a bit of dried chili). It also isn't fermented, as many high-quality vadouvans are.
900g minced onions
450g minced shallots
80g minced garlic
55g vegetable oil
15g salt
5g fenugreek seeds
5g cumin seeds
2g cardamom pods
4g brown mustard seeds
2.5g turmeric
1g nutmeg
.7g cloves
Slowly saute the onion and shallots in a pot with the oil until golden and a bit browned, adding the garlic for the last ten minutes or so. It should take about half an hour total.
Toast spices, then grind them finely and add to allium mixture, along with the salt. Transfer the whole mixture to a parchment lined sheet pan and spread thinly and evenly. Bake in a medium oven (350F or so), stirring occasionally to seperate the ingredients (or else they'll clump too much and dry that way), until well browned and barely moist. It'll take around an hour.
Posted by Barzelay on 2010/01/25 @ 22:27 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Sauces, Condiments, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese