WARNING: these are very addictive, I almost ate a whole head of cauliflower by myself and that amount of cauli would do bad bad things to me… a narrow escape… Very narrow, I kept moving them further and further away from me and eating more each time I moved them. Idiot.

I’m calling these ‘popcorn’ cauliflower florets because they kind of remind me of the whole popcorn chicken concept in that they are lightly drenched in a batter, but these are not deep fried!

I love fried chicken by the way. My best friend actually thinks my love for fried chicken is hilarious. All food is fine in moderation right? But I can’t have fried chicken everyday… or even every week as my arse would hate me for it. Therefore I am working on a healthified version of my favourite food… these aren’t it. These are cauliflower and that is not the same thing. I’m not sure how I even started talking about fried chicken (this happens more often than I would like to admit). Back to the recipe.

Fried cauliflower is delicious. Cauliflower fritters are delicious. These are a mix of the two. Full of spices and made with buckwheat flour to up the nutrients, they are full of flavour. The recipe also calls for a lot less oil than the usual fried cauliflower recipe. I have used rice bran oil because of it’s high smoking point.

The sauce is good with so many things, I had it on a vegie burger the other night but it would also be great with grilled chicken or lamb, in a wrap or on a salad. Or just dip carrot sticks in it!  The florets themselves make great drinks food, along with the spicy sweet potato crisps

‘POPCORN’ CAULIFLOWER FLORETS

Ingredients

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp coriander seed powder

1/4 tsp sumac

1/4 tsp hot paprika

1/8 tsp carraway seeds

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

1 egg + 1 egg white

Salt and pepper

1 small head of cauliflower broken into bite size florets (use your hands!)

1 Tbs rice bran oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper (grease proof paper)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the spices, flour, milk and eggs until batter is smooth. Season.

3. Toss the cauliflower florets in the batter until well coated.

4. Put a large pan on a high heat and add the oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is hot add the florets. Use tongs and add one at a time, shaking over the batter bowl so you don’t have heaps of excess batter. Do not crowd, you may need to do in batches.

5. Turn and cook until all sides are golden (approx. 5 minutes). You are placing them in the oven so don’t fret if not cooked through.

6. Once golden remove from the pan on place on baking tray. Put in the oven on a high shelf and cook for 5-10 minutes until extra crispy and golden.

Serve with the below sauce.

YOGHURT, FETA AND BASIL SAUCE

Ingredients

1 cup yoghurt

80g good quality feta

1 cup loosely packed basil

2 tbs chopped mint

1 roughly chopped spring onion

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1 small clove of garlic

1 birdseye chili

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a small blender and blitz until smooth. Season. Eat.

Dip popcorn florets into sauce and eat! Yum!

HH. x