Esther's Healthy Recipes

In the cold of winter, when the snow would come in gusts, the skies a light overcast grey, I always craved hot soup or a warm dish that would defrost the eyelashes and warm me up inside and out. Below is a story of the Genteel Warlock which will run throughout this blog as this is my very first dish to publish here!

Once upon a time, in the countryside of Leigh, there lived a sage with his gentle apprentice and caregiver. She had lived with the sage since she was young. Having learned a lot under his tutelage, she was yet still anxious about her journey that would begin when she turned 18.

On that anticipated day, as she walked along the river Rhine, she stopped to rest as she was both cold and tired. As she observed across the river, a caravan of gypsies had stopped along their journey as well, setting camp, with the sounds of children playing, music from the talented fiddlers, and cooking. As she shivered in the cold, she began nodding off to sleep, dreaming of a warm place and curling into a ball. She thought she felt warm hands carrying her up, voices saying, “Poor child,” as she continued in her slumber.

When she awoke, she found herself in a brightly covered caravan with gay designs strewn about in bright, cheerful colors. Her head a bit disoriented, she rose, before promptly falling back down. A warm hand supported her, and she saw a handsome visage before her, an angel, it seemed. He smiled, and gently guided her upright. “Good morning! We are so happy you woke up. We were afraid we were too late. My name is Maksim! We found you in the snow, and brought you here with us to our caravan. Here, have some of this!”

He fed her a spoonful of a hot and hearty dish that was slightly spicy but tangy and delicious. It gave at once, a sensation of the dish having come from the earth itself, with a hint of the man’s own charm. The dish warmed her up like a gentle fire from inside out.

“My sister invented this dish. It’s called Spring’s Yellow Dress because the cauliflower alone is white like snow, but when dressed in tomato and these sauces, it seems that the cauliflower has donned an attractive dress, no?”

The apprentice giggled, and laughed with her friend, her very first on the journey to her destiny!

Recipe for Spring’s Yellow Dress

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Ingredients:

4 cups of chopped cauliflower, 1 medium chopped tomato, and 1 cup of chopped leek

Spices: 1 to 2 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, 3 teaspoons of cumin powder, 1/4 teaspoon of asfoetida or Hing powder, salt as needed

Instructions:

Place chopped and washed cauliflower in a pot of boiling water. Cover and blanch until cooked for around 10 minutes before turning off the stove, and leave cauliflower inside the covered pot to simmer.

Meanwhile, place 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucer pan or wok, and on medium to high heat, cook the washed and cut leek until softened. Then, add in 1 teaspoon of turmeric, mixing with spatula until well incorporated.

Add the chopped tomato to the dish of leek, before adding 3 teaspoons of cumin, then 1 teaspoon of curry powder. Mix well and cook until the tomatoes are softened and mushed. Add in a pinch of salt as well as the 1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida or Hing powder. Add water if needed while cooking until tomatoes are softened.

Using a pasta fork, gently lift out blanched cauliflower and add them ladle by ladle to the leek and tomato dish. Gently, using spatula, incorporate the cauliflower into the curried dish, ensuring each cauliflower is coated with curry juice. Finally, add in around 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt (may add more if needed), and a pinch of chili or paprika powder.

Finally, turn the heat down to low (at around 3 or 4), and let the cauliflower continue to cook in covered saucer pan or wok for around 10 minutes. You may need to add more or less water if the dish is already dry. Cook until mid-dry then serve while warm!