Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Gobi Raswali

Sometimes, all it takes to tingle those tastebuds is the simplest of recipes. No standing over the stove for hours, no extra spices, no rare ingredients, no indigenous ingredients that you have to look for, in a different country. Sometimes, such recipes are most ignored too. They are these silent uncelebrated recipes. No one talks of them, no one requests for them, there are screams when you see it at the dinner table. But when you eat it, you swear that you could eat this everyday. Gobi Raswali is one such recipe of my mom's.

Most blogs are either titled after their moms or refer to their mom's cooking. However, I realized I haven't spoken once of my taken-for-granted mom or her cooking. My mom, in my opinion, is the most taken-for-granted person. People take her for granted consciously and unconsciously. My memories of my mom are not in the kitchen. I see her coming to school with me, helping me with my homework, making sure my handwriting is pretty, handling everything and anything about her kids, being patient with her husband and in-laws, being there for everyone, basically. I know most of you will say that most moms do this. But most moms cook too. My mom never cooked.

Let me tell you why. My granny is an orthodox woman. She did not let any of us touch her or her kitchen. She'd cook laboriously, and serve us too. There were a lot of rules. A lot to fight against which the 3 of us sisters did. My mom did too, sometimes. But ya, she never was allowed to cook except for say, a quick breakfast since we had to rush to school or some dish with onions. Or sometimes dinner if my granny wasn't eating. It was one of these days that my mom'd dish out North Indian dishes (It was special for us then, because we are South Indians :P) like Alu- Gobi, or Dal and Roti or that special Masala Dosa treat :) She always made it special. Thanks, Amma.

However, I always thought Alu-Gobi was a highly over-rated curry/sabzi. I do like it. But I feel the Gobi doesn't always get perfectly cooked. Kill me if you want, but Alu Gobi is not my favourite Gobi dish! Gobi Raswali is a spin-off from my mom's Alu Raswali. I love it and make it all the time for A. Imagine my joy when he loved it too! :) Here is my mom's recipe for Raswali. She makes it with Alu and I make it with Gobi. I think you can make a mixed veggie Raswali too!


Ingredients:


Gobi or cauliflower roughly chopped
1 medium onion roughly chopped
1 tomato roughly chopped
2 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp Turmeric powder
2 tbsp Chilli powder
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp oil
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste
Water

1. Grind the chopped onions into a paste along with the tomato.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil, add jeera and once it splutters, add the ginger-garlic paste and let it cook until the raw smells are gone.

3. Now, add the onion-tomato paste and let it cook

4. Add the gobi or the cauliflower florets and add water just enough to pressure cook it.

5. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, Garam Masala and stir

6. Pressure cook it for 2 whistles.

7. Add 1 tsp ghee and mix before serving hot with Rotis or rice.

A likes to eat it with Rotis. He soaks the rotis in the gravy and hogs until it is over :) I love the gravy too. The cauliflower is perfectly cooked, and almost melts in your mouth. I like it spicy and loaded with the ginger-garlic flavour. Adding the last teaspoon of ghee totally raises the taste levels to a different high and I highly recommend it. Go on and try it. Its easy to make and high up there on flavour and taste!

23 comments:

Cham said...

I make it dry this curry, but amazing hearing ur granny never let anyone cooking!
Sound cool with roti the gobi raswali

Usha said...

This sounds delicious....simple and perfect with roti's..I agree that sometimes the simplest things give great pleasure....

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I have an aloo raswale once at a restaurant and it was nice. But I'm sure it wasn't a patch on this version because home-cooked food is the best!
You bring to my mind a few "orthodox" ladies in my extended family too. A couple were real terrors.:D

raaji said...

aloo raswali sounds gr8 and tastes good i guess

amna said...

never heard of raswali, is it a south indian dish?

Jayashree said...

Totally agree with you that sometimes the best dishes are also the simplest ones.

ST said...

I make it same but dry. Gobi raswali sounds awesome and delicious.Will try it this time.

Adam said...

I like your story about how everyone had to stay out of the kitchen. It's like hey if you're good at something, be in charge and do it :)

While I still get confused on all the different types of curries out there, this one looks like a welcome addition, especially with cauliflower.

Oh, and good job to your Giants :)

Indranee Batabyal said...

Nice dish...looks very tempting! Have a great week!

Rachel said...

I took my mum for granted..now my lil one takes me for granted :D

This dish is a relief to me because of the ease of making it.

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Sounds great and look delicious

Maria said...

Looks fantastic!! I love cauliflower!

Deepthi Shankar said...

i like the name raswali .. i havent tried this at all .. i always make the dry version ..

Chibog in Chief said...

our mothers are definitely the greatest cook!! :-)because all their recipes are cooked with love

Swati said...

I somehow love Aloo-gobi... Moms are the best!!

PG said...

Looks yummy! I loved the way my mom used to prepare aloo gobi. I still miss it. All the more because I cannot make it as good as she could. I had never eaten gobi with rassa, until hubby cooked it for us, while I was busy with my Ph.D. But those days are long gone....

Deeba PAB said...

I'll go with your gobhi raswali...it looks yum! Loved reading your post. Food always tastes so much better when it is connected to nostalgia!

Shreya said...

Nice gobi raswali! Have never tried it this way, will try next time I buy cauliflower. Btw, loved your potato bread and chocolate marble cake. Keep baking...:-)

Unknown said...

Hey I make the similar way except that I do not use a pressure cooker. I make it on stove top.. Will surely try the pressure cooker method. I too love to dunk roti in them and eat it.. will try your version soon!

Ruth said...

Yum I am totally going to make this but I dont have a pressure cooker so it will be an all day simmer for me.

Also I finally updated due to your request! =)

Cynthia said...

Yep. Simple feeds us on a deeper level always.

Dee said...

This is a lovely tribute to your mum. All mums actually. Jules and I love our spice but the little one freaks out at a hint of chile, so we don't cook as much Indian as we'd like. Aloo Gobi, I like. Gobi Raswali, I've never heard off. It's been bookmarked for when we have enough adult company. Thanks!

Sheetal Kiran said...

I think the phenomenon of taking Mom's for granted is universal! Your gobi raswali reminds me exactly how my ma made it ... thank you for this.