Cauliflower with Purple Sweet Potatoes – Ranga Alu Diye Phulkopi
 Cauliflower is a such a staple in my repertoire. It helps that we do not grow a lot of it. Or I would be eating cauliflower everyday. This is however, a colorful variation of the classic alu gobi, or in Bengali alu phulkopi. Upscaling the potatoes for purple sweet potatoes add both variety and nutrition. And we get cauliflower with purple sweet potatoes.
This dish can certainly be made with any sweet potatoes, but I love the purple one because of their vivid colors.
The Story of Cauliflower with Purple Sweet Potatoes
This is a very simple creation, that my mom calls chorchori or a medley of sorts. So, purple sweet potatoes are the new potatoes in our house . I love the fact that they tend to retain their color. Also, these purple varieties seem to be organic by default.
Over the years, mom had descended to very simple and usually vegetarian fare. Simple and flavorful meals!
Nutri Dense and Wholesome
The funny thing is that such fare is actually so nutritious and of course, it is the delicate seasonings that make a world of difference. In my opinion, it is these simple delights that make the Bengali table unique and is really the true Bengali food, far away from the Biryani’s and Chaanp’s of the world, sure they have their place but I think most representative of the Bengali table are the nostalgic dishes, like red lentils or mixed vegetable medleys.
I am very committed to showcasing the delicate and simple nature of homey vegetarian Bengali cuisine and have had a lot of success with people so far, with Bengali New Year coming up, I want to try and showcase some more of these.
It has been a long weekend of sorts, actually I always feel that way if I do not get my sleep quota and unfortunately this weekend that is going to come down a little short. It is for such long days and short evenings that simple fare like this is made. If you can do serve this with freshly puffed chapatis, makes all the difference in the world.
A colorful Bengali medley of purple sweet potatoes and caulflower.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil (mustard oil works well)
- 1 teaspoon panch phoron (Bengali Five Spice)
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 medium sized purple sweet potatoes (or any color of your choice), cut into a dice
- 1 medium sized head of cauliflower (about 3/4 pound, cut into pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
- 1 or 2 tomatoes, diced
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the oil and add in the panch phoron and wait until the mixture begins to crackle add in the ginger and stir lightly.
- Add in the diced sweet potatoes and cover and cook on low for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add in the cauliflower, turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper and the tomatoes and stir lightly and well mixed. Cover and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes. We are essentially steam cooking the vegetables, so it is essential to have a good lid and make sure that this is being done on low heat.
- Remove the cover and give the vegetables a good stir, at this point they should be very soft. Add in the peas and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn of the heat, garnish with the cilantro and enjoy.
Detox Girl
Amazing 🙂