I thought up of this salad while writing the recipe for my parsnip, pepita and parmesan side dish. Here I was banging on about my love of alliteration. At the same time I was adding curry powder to some yoghurt to make the base for a coleslaw dressing for my lunch – seeing as though I’d yet again run out of my preferred spice, cumin. I go through so much of the stuff.
Great things are often thought up out of necessity aren’t they.
The inclusion of the curry powder in my dressing got me thinking about Coronation chicken too. You’ve heard of Coronation chicken? But what about Coronation cauliflower?
Coronation chicken, Coronation coleslaw – Coronation Cauliflower! Funny where my mind goes when on the subject of food.
How smug am I to think that I’d single handedly thought up of a new clever dish – a quick google search will tell you that I in fact did not invent the “Coronation cauliflower” term myself (insert laughing emoji).
But here we have my take on the classic English-Indian dish at least.
Good salads are made up of various elements. Different textures, flavours, ingredients – all combined to make a whole. Successful home cooks must be able to use whatever they’ve got available to them.
Below I’ve broken down the list of ingredients with some handy substitutions that you may find useful.
ingredients snapshot + suggested variations
cauliflower
The cauliflower really is the star of the show here. It’s really lovely simply roasted in a spicy mix of curry powder, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and dried oregano.
Swap with broccoli, zucchini, sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin or onion here. Or if you’re feeling so inclined – use a mixture of them all. As always when roasting veggies though, take notice of the size in which you cut them up, taking care so as not to burn them.
chickpeas
Crunchy roasted chickpeas help round out the dish. I’d make this with tinned brown lentils as well – treating them exactly the same as the chickpeas, roasting them in a hot oven until nicely crunchy and crisp.
nuts
Lightly toasted almonds provide a lovely flavour but feel free to play around with whatever nuts you like. I love walnuts and always have them in the house. Hazelnuts, pine nuts, pecans or macadamias would also work.
seeds
I’ve gone with sunflower seeds in this recipe but pepitas (pumpkin seeds) would be a fine replacement.
salad vege
The cucumber provides a lovely burst of freshness, as does the natural yoghurt. This in turn pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the caramelised onion. Halved cherry tomatoes would also work well as would some plump pieces of avocado when in season.
You’ll also notice that I’ve chosen to serve the cauliflower on a bed of wilted baby spinach but by all means use raw baby spinach, finely sliced kale or some lovely peppery rocket leaves as the base instead.
sweetness
Caramelised onion provides that much needed sweetness that’s required to counteract the strong curried flavour. Coronation chicken generally showcases mango relish but a tomato chutney would also be terrific here.
yoghurt
“There’s something wrong with this yoghurt”.
“It’s not yoghurt. It’s mayonnaise”
“Oh. Very well then”.
Lovers of my favourite movie, Notting Hill will know what I’m on about here.
The addition of the palette cleansing natural yoghurt really works wonders in bringing this whole salad together. Most recipes you’ll find for Coronation Cauliflower will include mayo in them too but I don’t think it’s needed at all. The yoghurt brings about enough “creaminess” for my liking. And its healthier, which is always a plus.
dried fruit
Sultanas are the way to go but so are dried cranberries, currants or raisins.
herbs
The last thing I’d say is that in my opinion literally anything can be improved with a generous amount of fresh herbs – in this case, go with coriander (if you’re lucky enough to have it mind you).
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again.
Eating salad doesn’t have to be boring.
Give this one a go.
I promise you it’s anything but boring.
coronation cauliflower | curried roasted cauliflower with crispy chickpeas, caramelised onion + yoghurt
You’ll notice that this recipe calls for a lot of “sprinkling” and “scattering” of some of the ingredients instead of giving you exact measurements. There’ll be some of you that hate this. I’m sorry. But life is too short to be weighing out ingredients in a recipe such as this. Go with your gut. Just like an Italian Nonna would.
for the roasted cauliflower
1 x head of cauliflower, chopped into chunks
A sprinkling of curry powder
A sprinkling of turmeric
A sprinkling of ground cumin
A sprinkling of ground coriander
A sprinkling of dried oregano
A drizzle or two of olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
1 x 400 gram tin of chickpeas, drained
A scattering of sunflower seeds
A scattering of almonds, lightly toasted
A scattering of sultanas
1 x Lebanese cucumber, cut into rounds
200 grams (or thereabouts) of Baby spinach, wilted in a hot pan (or left raw if you prefer)
Caramelised onion relish, to serve
Natural yoghurt, to serve
Fresh coriander, to serve (not pictured as I didn’t have any at the time of photographing)
A spritz of fresh lemon juice (optional, depending on your liking)
- Add the cauliflower to a large baking dish – sprinkle with the spices, drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in a hot oven, giving it a shake around half way through until nicely charred.
- Meanwhile, in a seperate baking dish – throw the chickpeas in, drizzling with olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper and whack them in the oven to roast until nicely crispy. Keep a close eye on them here as you don’t want them to burn. Set aside once done.
- Once the cauliflower is roasted nicely, to assemble the salad – take a large serving platter and layer the wilted baby spinach with the cauliflower, chickpeas, seeds, almonds, sultanas and cucumber and then dollop on the caramelised onion and yoghurt all around. Scatter with fresh coriander if you have it (not pictured). I also like to give it a little hit with some freshly squeezed lemon juice for that extra acidity (but this is up to you). Serve immediately.
I’m really excited about this recipe. I could eat it every day – it’s so yum. I’d love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave a comment below. And don’t forget to tell all of your friends about Lo’s Kitchen. xx
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