Cauliflower chickpea curry cakes with lime and mint raita
Suffolk-based chef, gardener and writer Henrietta Inman has shared this delectable recipe from her book Clean Cakes (£20, Jacqui Small). She recommends variations with other whole pulses like Hodmedod's British-grown carlin peas.
"These spicy savoury cakes with the fresh-flavoured raita make a very satisfying midweek supper. I like to serve them with a colourful salad made from red cabbage, radish, pomegranate seeds, coriander (cilantro), grated carrot, coconut flakes, pumpkin and sesame seeds. Leftovers can be enjoyed for breakfast with poached eggs."
Look out for Henrietta's new book, The Natural Baker (£20, Jacqui Small), due out on 22 March.
Photo courtesy Henrietta Inman
Makes 18 cakes
Ingredients
Cauliflower chickpea cakes
- 1 small red chilli
- 8 spring onions (scallions)
- 2 large tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 20 g (¾ oz/3 tbsp) fresh turmeric,
- roughly chopped
- 20 g (¾ oz/3 tbsp) fresh ginger, roughly
- chopped
- ½ large cauliflower, florets only
- 1 tbsp coconut oil or EVCP rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 300 g (10½ oz/2 cups) cooked chickpeas
- 150 ml (5 fl oz/scant ⅔ cup) coconut
- milk, plus more if necessary
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
- 20 g (¾ oz/scant ½ cup) coriander
- (cilantro), roughly chopped
- 75 g (2¾ oz/⅔ cup) gram flour
- 25 g (¾ oz/scant ¼ cup) milled flax
- seeds
- Salt and black pepper
Lime and mint raita
- 250 g (8¾ oz/1 cup) natural coconut
- yogurt
- 200 g (7 oz) cucumber
- Generous handful finely chopped mint
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp lime juice
- Pinch cayenne pepper, optional
- Himalayan pink salt or coarse sea salt
- Black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
- Finely chop the chilli and spring onions (scallions) and cube the tomatoes. Using a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic, turmeric and ginger to form a rough paste.
- Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until small pieces form resembling breadcrumbs. You need 350 g (12¼ oz) in total.
- In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil then add the ground turmeric, mustard and fenugreek seeds. After a few minutes, add the chopped chilli, onion and tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes or until beginning to colour. Add the garlic paste and continue to cook. When everything has softened and is coloured, add the cauliflower and chickpeas, stirring to coat. Add the coconut milk, lime zest and juice. Heat until the coconut milk just begins to boil and then lower the heat and add the coriander (cilantro), gram flour, milled flax seeds and seasoning.
- Stir everything to combine on a low heat for a further 5 minutes. If it looks a bit dry, add a little more coconut milk. Remove from the heat, leave to cool slightly and check for seasoning.
- To make the raita, put the yogurt into a medium-size bowl. Peel and grate the cucumber, you should get about 160 g (5½ oz) grated weight, and add to the yogurt. Add all the other ingredients, stir and season to taste, adding extra chopped mint and lime if you want.
- Make the cauliflower chickpea mix into 18 small cakes in your hands. The mix will feel a little wet but that’s normal. Put the cakes onto the lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven, turn each cake over and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown. The outer chickpeas become slightly crunchy while the inside stays perfectly soft.
- Serve warm with the raita.
- The cakes and the raita will keep for five days in a sealed container in the fridge.