Food blogger Shumaila Chauhan's Malai Broccoli is a scrumptious and reasonably healthy starter. It uses less oil and doesn't require deep frying. It has great taste that comes from the cream cheese, hung curd, spices, garlic and kasundi (Bengali mustard paste).
Have the dish by itself or serve it with an assortment of vegetarian appetisers and it's bound to be an instant hit.
Cooking, baking, eating, writing, styling and photography is what Shumaila does on a daily basis, she says.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Shumaila Chauhan
Malai Broccoli
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 600-700 gm broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- ½ cup hung curd
- 2 tbsp fresh cream
- Seeds of 2-3 green elaichi or cardamom, crushed
- Pinch, nutmeg powder
- ¾ cup walnuts, soaked overnight
- Juice of 1 neebu or lemon
- Few strands kesar or saffron, mixed in 1 tbsp warm milk
- ½-inch piece ginger, grated
- 5 garlic pods, crushed or minced
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1½ tbsp kasundi paste
- Pinch, salt
- Dash, black pepper powder
- Melted butter, for basting
- Water
- Ice-cold water
- Oil to grease the oven tray
- Parchment paper
- Lemon wedges, to serve
- Sliced onion rings, to serve
Method
- Soak the walnuts in water overnight or for 5-6 hours.
Drain the walnuts and blend along with the cream cheese, cream, hung curd, crushed cardamom, soaked saffron strands, grated ginger, garlic, mustard oil, kasundi, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a mixer to make a paste.
- In a saucepan, bring 3-4 cups water to a boil and blanch the broccoli florets in it for a few seconds only, allowing them to remain bright green.
Strain the florets and briefly soak them in a bowl full of ice-cold water to cool and prevent the florets from cooking further.
- In a bowl, mix the florets with the walnut-cream-curd paste.
Let the broccoli marinate for 2-3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Line a tray with parchment paper and grease with a little oil.
Place the marinated broccoli on the tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping the pieces and basting them with the melted butter halfway through.
Alternately, cook the broccoli in a grill pan on the stove.
Serve warm with lemon wedges and sliced onion rings.
Shumaila Chauhan is the creator of the food blog Novice Housewife.