James Bates’ disco cauliflower with chermoula, tahini and harissa. Photograph: Dan Jones/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Thea Hudson. View image in fullscreen James Bates’ disco cauliflower with chermoula, tahini and harissa. Photograph: Dan Jones/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Thea Hudson. Food Disco cauliflower and bhajis: Maray’s cauliflower recipes Cauliflower is a flavour sponge, but miraculously stays satisfyingly al dente. Smother it in chermoula, tahini and harissa, or transform it into spicy bhajis served with a lively chutney
Prefer the Guardian on Google C auliflower is a culinary gem. Often overlooked, it possesses a remarkable ability to absorb complex seasonings and textures while maintaining a satisfying bite. It’s also perfect for braising, frying or roasting, and provides a canvas for bold, herbaceous and spicy flavour profiles that elevate an ostensibly simple brassica into a true centrepiece.
The quantities for the green sauce will make more than you need to dress the cauliflower, but it keeps very well in a jar or sealed container in the fridge for up to a week and is delicious on all sorts, so it’s well worth making extra.
3 tbsp sea salt 2 tsp ground turmeric 1 large cauliflower (about 1.2kg), leaves trimmed, then cut in half from top to root (900g net) 3 tbsp vegetable oil
For the tahini sauce 3 tbsp tahini paste 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the green sauce 100g fresh coriander , including stalks 100g fresh parsley , including stalks, plus a little extra to finish 2 garlic cloves , peeled and roughly chopped 2 medium red chillies , stalks removed and roughly chopped 50g lemon juice 10g fine table salt 180ml rapeseed oil For the honey dressing 2 tbsp harissa paste 1 tsp honey 1 tsp white-wine vinegar To finish 100g natural yoghurt Pomegranate seeds and flaked almonds 1 tsp paprika
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, then stir in two tablespoons of the salt and a teaspoon of the turmeric. Drop in the cauliflower halves, simmer for about 10 minutes, until just tender, then drain and leave in the colander for 10 minutes to steam-dry and to drain off all the excess water.
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. In a small bowl, mix the vegetable oil with the remaining salt and turmeric, then rub this all over the cauliflower. Put the blanched cauliflower halves cut side down on an oven tray and roast for 20-25 minutes, turning once halfway, until charred at the edges.
While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the three sauce toppings. In a small bowl, mix the tahini and lemon juice with a tablespoon of water and set aside.
For the green sauce, put the coriander and parsley in a food processor, blitz for a few seconds, then add the garlic, chilli, lemon and salt, and blitz again briefly, so the mix still has some texture. Slowly work in the rapeseed oil, until nicely emulsified.
Finally, in another small bowl, loosen the harissa with the honey and wine vinegar.
When the cauliflower is ready, transfer it to a large platter. Spoon the yoghurt evenly over the top, followed by drizzles of the tahini, green and harissa sauces. Scatter generously with pomegranate seeds, flaked almonds and chopped parsley, finish with a dusting of paprika and serve hot.
View image in fullscreen James Bates’ bhajis. Prep 20 min Cook 15 min Serves 4-6
Salt 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 small cauliflower (about 500g), leaves trimmed 500g white onion…