Buttermilk fried cauliflower with jalapeño and lime dressing
Serves 4 as a snack or appetizer
One of my favourite recipes in the book, this is so good. Watch as a whole cauliflower is devoured in minutes – it’s so delicious. When fried, heavens above, cauliflower becomes so unbelievably good, this will be your favourite way to eat it for evermore.
You’ll need:
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1 cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets 400ml (14fl oz) buttermilk (or use natural yogurt)
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped 1–2 jalapeño chillies, roughly chopped 1 lime (or 2 if your limes aren’t especially juicy), halved
1 small bunch of coriander, leaves picked and roughly chopped
½–1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
100g (3½oz) self-raising flour
50g (1¾oz) cornflour Sunflower oil, for frying
Method:
1. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets and boil for 2 minutes, until just tender, then drain well and allow to cool at little.
2. In the meantime, blend half the buttermilk with the garlic, chilli, salt to taste, juice from half the lime and all the coriander to make a smooth dressing, then put to one side.
3. Mix the remaining buttermilk with the chilli powder, cumin and a ½ teaspoon of salt, then mix the drained cauliflower florets into the buttermilk mixture until fully coated.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and cornflour together with a big pinch of salt. Coat the cauliflower in the flour mixture and place on a baking tray so that the pieces aren’t touching each other.
5. Pour at least 3cm (1¼in) of oil into a wide, deep pan and heat to 180C/350F. The oil is ready for frying when you drop in a piece of cauliflower and it sizzles and floats to the surface immediately.
6. Working in batches of about 6–8 pieces at a time, fry the cauliflower florets for a few minutes, or until golden on all sides. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels while you fry the remainder. Season well with salt.
7. Serve the fried cauliflower immediately along with the dressing and with the remaining half of the lime cut into wedges for squeezing over.