Revisiting resolves!

Gobhi fry in sarson ka teil

Some weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled “Time for oil change!” about breaking mental barriers and venturing out to use mustard oil with potatoes in a Nepali dish, which happily was a resounding success.

Then the bottle of MO went back to the pantry.

It would have probably gone rancid with disuse, but for a constant subliminal reminder by so many of my new found friends on Facebook culinary groups who wax eloquent about mustard oil in almost every second dish they make!

So I started thinking about more possibilities and latching on to a scrap of a memory (or was it a figment?), posed a question on FB last night whether gobhi with MO would taste good.

I had suggestions and comments- all encouraging and positive.

Emboldened, I went ahead in blind faith- hand-held by all the stalwarts who swear by mustard oil.

The resultant dish was another unqualified success, remarkable for its simplicity and singularity of taste. The spice mix complemented the fried florets and the only excess was the amount of oil!

3 cups gobhi florets, washed and drained

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garam masala

½  tsp ajwain, crushed

½  tsp cumin seeds, crushed

½ tsp pepper corns, crushed

Salt to taste

Mustard oil to fry

Heat about a cup of mustard oil in a kadhai to smoking point and add the gobhi florets batch by batch and deep fry them al dente and remove them onto kitchen paper. After the last batch is fried, remove all the oil except a about a teaspoon and sauté the ginger-garlic pastes and the masalas in it. When done, add back the fried gobhi florets and add salt to taste.

Serve with roti or paratha. I served it with varki parathas- in a meal fit for a king!