Chick Pea Curry with Okra and Roasted Cauliflower

Serves 4

You Will Need

-          1 cup white rice

-          about 2 big handfuls of okra, chopped into inch pieces

-          some chick pea flour, or other flour (optional)

-          ½ cup oil

-          1 ½ cups (dry) chick peas, SOAKED OVERNIGHT!!! So you better start this recipe yesterday!!! (psst there is a secret way around this which is to use canned chick peas. Shh. If you are using canned, do two cans, because the 1 ½ cup measurement is dry)

-          2 onions, sliced

-          4 cloves garlic, minced

-          about an inch piece of ginger, minced

-          2 green chiles, chopped, with seeds

-          3-4 medium tomatoes, diced

-          1 head of cauliflower

-          cumin

-          turmeric

-          salt and pepper

-          cayenne

-          garam masala

-          coconut milk (optional, but better)

-          about 3 tablespoons fenugreek leaves (dry)

-          lemon juice.

1. Before you do ANYTHING, cut your cauliflower into chunks, toss it with oil and pepper and salt, and put it in a pan in the oven at around 375. After about 30 minutes you can stir them around (or flip them over one by one with your fingers, as I did. But if you are really imitating me you will have to cook them in a toaster oven because we don’t have an oven)
2. Start your rice
3. Put the soaked chick peas in a pot of water, cover, and turn on high. Stir occasionally and just leave them in there until they are almost soft. Turn it down when it boils.
4. Put almost all the oil into a big frying pan, and turn on the heat. Toss okra pieces in flour so they are lightly covered, and when oil is hot, throw them in there (careful). You will now LEAVE THEM IN THERE, stirring occasionally, for half an hour. Seriously. This way they will get crunchy and nice and not at all gummy or cottony or any of the weird stuff that can happen to okra, the poor misunderstood vegetable. After about 30 mins, take the okra out of the oil using a slotted spoon, and lay it aside on a plate with some paper towels, and sprinkle on a little salt.
5. Okay, I know you are using like, 3 of your stove burners now, as well as the oven. I’m sorry. But shhh don’t stress. Shhh
6. So now you want to take another frying pan, and with a bit of oil start frying onions, garlic, ginger, and chili, along with all the spices except for the garam masala and fenugreek. Simmer on low heat, adding water now and then
7. When onions are translucent, add tomatoes and some water, and garam masala. Continue to simmer.
8. When your chick peas are mostly soft enough to eat, add them to the onion pan, add fenugreek and between ½-1 cup of water, or coconut milk if you have it. Cover and simmer until chick peas are soft and everything is saucy.
9. At the last minute, when everything is cooked, mix cauliflower and okra into main pan. They will have a good crunchy texture compared with the soft chick peas and tomatoes
10. Serve on rice. 

Here is a really crappy quality photo of what this looked like: