The cauliflower is such a versatile ingredient. It has managed to inspire a whole wave of new age recipes wherein it is featured to resemble other ingredients.For eg cauliflower rice is the new staple for those who are on a carbohydrate free diet and a cauliflower puree has taken the place of a creamy white sauce for those who are lactose or gluten intolerant.
The cauliflower is such a versatile ingredient. It has managed to inspire a whole wave of new age recipes wherein it is featured to resemble other ingredients. For eg cauliflower rice is the new staple for those who are on a carbohydrate free diet and a cauliflower puree has taken the place of a creamy white sauce for those who are lactose or gluten intolerant.
This has spurred cauliflower cultivation to a large extent. The downside to buying commercially grown cauliflower is the large amount of pesticides that is used to keep bugs at bay. As a result more organic farms have taken to cultivating this vegetable.
Cauliflower cultivation is a bit challenging especially in the plains. It needs a cool climate, no harsh sunlight and a rich, damp soil. On the pest front, a simple solution of green chillies, ginger and asafoetida mixed in water, when sprayed weekly keeps the plants healthy. It was after one such spraying, as we stood surveying the cauliflower patch that we began to pay attention to the large bluish grey leaves that enveloped the florets.
The outermost leaves were ridden with holes but the inner foliage was largely unaffected. The leaves also have a distinct aroma much like the cauliflower itself. While I had not heard of anyone cooking the leaves, I had an inkling that it may be edible.
After harvesting the fully grown florets, we brought home a generous bunch of leaves much to the amusement of the farm hands. They wondered what on earth we were going to do with the ‘fresh fodder’ meant for the livestock!!!
In all honesty when I decided to go scouting on the internet for information on cauliflower leaves, I did not expect to be overwhelmed with so much positive feedback. Cauliflower leaves have some of the highest calcium content when compared to other leafy produce. A mere 100 gms of leaves contain 600 gms of calcium. It has a high content of iron as well.
All I could think of was the number of these nutrient enriched leaves that get discarded everyday. Not only are we doing gross injustice to our foods by tainting them with chemicals we are also equally guilty of wasting so much of what is edible. The concept of eating root, shoot, leaf and stem might be new to the developed world but that’s how Indian cuisine evolved over the years.
The hill tribals refer to the cauliflower as kaattu poo and the leaves are used to make a tasty keerai. To make the keerai, it’s best to roll up the large leaves and slice it length ways so that it looks like shreds.It can be cooked by just adding a sauté of small onions, green chillies and salt, in nallennai and by sprinkling some water during the cooking process. The result is a light springy keerai dish which tastes delicious with no bitter after taste. Because the texture is not like a wilted mess, it has a very good mouth feel. It’s so tasty with a helping of rasam saadham. If you know a good source for organic cauliflower, the keerai is a definite must try!
The crinkly leaves of the cauliflower resemble another ingredient whose fame has reached even our Indian shores, the power packed kale leaves. The shape is similar but the kale leaves are of a darker green and smaller in size. Nevertheless we tried our hand to make the much celebrated ‘kale chips’ with the cauliflower leaves. The process is simple. Wash and dry the leaves whole. Coat it in any oil of choice. Season with salt, pepper or chilli flakes, lay it flat on a roasting pan and bake on medium heat in the over for about 10 minutes. The leaves crisp up fast so it needs to be closely monitored.
We waited a few minutes to cool after taking it out of the oven and were absolutely delighted with the result. It was crunchy and made for a great chip option.
The thought that keeps coming back to me is why do we need to live on supplements which come out of a bottle when all it takes is to pay attention to what grows around us. Ask for pesticide free cauliflower, leaves and all. So what if the outer leaves get nibbled on, there’s more than enough for all !
This has spurred cauliflower cultivation to a large extent. The downside to buying commercially grown cauliflower is the large amount of pesticides that is used to keep bugs at bay. As a result more organic farms have taken to cultivating this vegetable.
Cauliflower cultivation is a bit challenging especially in the plains. It needs a cool climate, no harsh sunlight and a rich, damp soil. On the pest front, a simple solution of green chillies, ginger and asafoetida mixed in water, when sprayed weekly keeps the plants healthy. It was after one such spraying, as we stood surveying the cauliflower patch that we began to pay attention to the large bluish grey leaves that enveloped the florets.
The outermost leaves were ridden with holes but the inner foliage was largely unaffected. The leaves also have a distinct aroma much like the cauliflower itself. While I had not heard of anyone cooking the leaves, I had an inkling that it may be edible.
After harvesting the fully grown florets, we brought home a generous bunch of leaves much to the amusement of the farm hands. They wondered what on earth we were going to do with the ‘fresh fodder’ meant for the livestock!!!
In all honesty when I decided to go scouting on the internet for information on cauliflower leaves, I did not expect to be overwhelmed with so much positive feedback. Cauliflower leaves have some of the highest calcium content when compared to other leafy produce. A mere 100 gms of leaves contain 600 gms of calcium. It has a high content of iron as well.
All I could think of was the number of these nutrient enriched leaves that get discarded everyday. Not only are we doing gross injustice to our foods by tainting them with chemicals we are also equally guilty of wasting so much of what is edible. The concept of eating root, shoot, leaf and stem might be new to the developed world but that’s how Indian cuisine evolved over the years.
The hill tribals refer to the cauliflower as kaattu poo and the leaves are used to make a tasty keerai. To make the keerai, it’s best to roll up the large leaves and slice it length ways so that it looks like shreds.It can be cooked by just adding a sauté of small onions, green chillies and salt, in nallennai and by sprinkling some water during the cooking process. The result is a light springy keerai dish which tastes delicious with no bitter after taste. Because the texture is not like a wilted mess, it has a very good mouth feel. It’s so tasty with a helping of rasam saadham. If you know a good source for organic cauliflower, the keerai is a definite must try!
The crinkly leaves of the cauliflower resemble another ingredient whose fame has reached even our Indian shores, the power packed kale leaves. The shape is similar but the kale leaves are of a darker green and smaller in size. Nevertheless we tried our hand to make the much celebrated ‘kale chips’ with the cauliflower leaves. The process is simple. Wash and dry the leaves whole. Coat it in any oil of choice. Season with salt, pepper or chilli flakes, lay it flat on a roasting pan and bake on medium heat in the over for about 10 minutes. The leaves crisp up fast so it needs to be closely monitored.
We waited a few minutes to cool after taking it out of the oven and were absolutely delighted with the result. It was crunchy and made for a great chip option.
The thought that keeps coming back to me is why do we need to live on supplements which come out of a bottle when all it takes is to pay attention to what grows around us. Ask for pesticide free cauliflower, leaves and all. So what if the outer leaves get nibbled on, there’s more than enough for all !