Weeknight Recipe: Potato and Cauliflower Curry

We're new to curries and taking it in baby steps. We developed this quicker, weeknight curry using several of our favorite recipes. It uses a lot of ingredients and spices that we already have in our pantry and the result is a fragrant, very satisfying Indian stew for a chilly winter evening - or any other night!

While the curry is cooking, prepare a pot of rice. We threw a bay leaf, a few cardamom pods, and the leftover nub of garlic into our pot of rice for some subtle seasoning. This thick curry would also be great with naan bread or chapati.

Potato and Cauliflower Curry
Serves 4-6

1 large or 2 small onions, diced small
1 pound (about 6 small) red potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
1-inch nub of garlic, minced or grated on a microplane
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in their juices
1/4 cup yogurt

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a 4- to 6- quart dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the onions with a half teaspoon of salt until they are soft and translucent. Add the potatoes with another half teaspoon of salt and cook until they are browned on all sides. Add the cauliflower and cook until it is also browned in spots.

Toss in all of the spices and stir until they are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and their juices. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and let the curry simmer until the potatoes and cauliflower are soft, 15-20 minutes. For a thicker sauce, remove the lid in the last five minutes of cooking to let moisture evaporate.

Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt. Taste the curry and adjust the salt, pepper, or other seasonings as desired. This curry will keep for one week refrigerated or up to 6 months frozen. (If you're planning on freezing some of it, don't add the yogurt until you're ready to serve the curry.)

(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (16)

This is fairly close to the recipe I make, except that I add frozen peas at the end.

This is pretty close to mine too, but I usually add chick peas. Complete protein!

I would cook the onions and garlic with all the spices before adding the cauliflower and potatoes. It releases all the favors and makes the curry more fragrant and spicy. And under cook the cauliflower a little before adding the tomatoes and yogurt. Otherwise, when you boil and reduce the curry, the cauliflower will go mushy, and literally dissolve in the curry!

I add some coconut milk, cashews and cashew butter.

Add in a little ginger and see the difference!! =)

I second Akanksha's suggestions. With Indian curries you always cook the onions and garlic with whole spices in order to toast them and layer flavors. I also highly recommend adding peas.

This is basically Aloo Gobi, is it not?

Now maybe it's me, but I feel the tomato flavor is too pronounced as the recipe is written. I added more spices in order to counteract this.

I had heartmignardise's problem. I must have tripled the spices before I could taste much of anything besides tomato, and it's still not as orange as the picture. Are my spices old? I bought all of them this past fall, and the turmeric was unopened!

I just made this, first ever curry I ever attempted, and it was de-lish!! I accidentally used only 14.5 ounces of tomatoes, but I really liked it, so I'm not sure I'd want to add more. Next time I'd like a little more kick...what do you add for that? Just pepper?

I think there's a mistake in the recipe. Should that really be a 1" nub of ginger? Garlic doesn't usually come in nub form.

I followed this recipe fairly closely; it's still simmering on my stove, and it's not very good.

It essentially tastes like curry flavored ketchup, and I've (currently) doubled the time to allow it to simmer and everything is still crunchy.

So! If you want raw vegetables in a curry/tomato dressing, this is your ticket! I won't be following this recipe again.

@asmallcontempt I'm having the exact same issue: everything is still crunchy!

additionally, I think that 1 tsp of oil is not nearly enough to coat the bottom of a 4-6 qt. dutch oven.

I have never heard of a 'nub of garlic' let alone a 1 inch one....did you mean a nub or ginger? or did you mean to use garlic and described it incorrectly?