Indian Spice

I can't remember when the cupboard has been this bare. Cauliflower keeps for a while. The lentils were pre-cooked and packaged for long fridge storage. Not exactly the self righteous farm to table schenanigans we specialize in around here. I decided to cover my shopping failure with spice. A rich Indian dish with chiles and ginger and lots of cumin seed -- a play on a recipe in one of Madha Jaffrey's cookbooks. I roasted the cauliflower and small cubes of potatoes, seasoned with whole cumin seed, S&P, and tossed in peanut and grapeseed oil at 450º for about 20 minutes until the potatoes were tender and the cauliflower just lightly browned.

Meanwhile on the stove I cooked a cubed onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and about 2 tsp minced fresh ginger in about 2 TB of canola oil. When the onion was good and browned I added in a 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp ground coriander, and 1/4 tsp cayenne and cooked over high heat for about 2 minutes. I stirred 3/4 cup water into the pan, scraped up all the browned bits on the bottom and stirred in the roasted cauliflower, potatoes and the cooked lentils. When the vegetables and legumes were heated through I served James his bare cupboard curry over basmati rice with a drizzle of mustard oil.