So there’s a generic Middle Eastern place that just opened up about a year and a half ago right down the street from us. You know the type–it serves falafel, hummus, grape leaves, various kabobs and the like. Almost every day they have specials, and last night’s special was a cauliflower stew. It may be the most wonderful thing I have ever eaten in my entire life, and I want to figure out what it actually is and maybe find a recipe for it, so I turn to you guys.
By looks, it resembled a curry of some sort, with cauliflower and potatoes in a creamy, pale yellow (just a bit more yellow than off-white, not the vivid yellow you’d get from lots of turmeric or saffron) thick sauce. The cauliflower appeared as if it may have first been roasted and then stewed in the sauce. The potatoes were very soft and had almost completely taken on the color of the sauce, but were still holding together in chunks. The sauce did not taste strongly of any spice, and had next to no heat to it, although it was very flavorful. The one thing I could narrow down is that it was tangy–it had a little mustardy or vinegary kick to it, but it didn’t taste like an Indian curry at all, at least not strongly. It was very subtly flavorful. There were no other vegetables, nor was there any tomato in the sauce at all. It seemed like it was thickened through the use of pureed vegetables rather than cornstarch or flour. It also tasted fattening as hell, if that helps.
I spent the morning Googling around, to no avail. Everything I’ve found is Indian and has carrots and peas and such in it, and while probably good, is also probably not what I have been dreaming of having more of ever since last night. If all else fails, I’m going to call up the restaurant owner and beg, but I’d rather not have to do that. Hopefully one of you knows what this is, because it’s the only thing I’ve ever seen that got my one-year-old daughter to eat both cauliflower and white potatoes and beg for more.
Did it taste like the broth may have had coconut milk in it? Most middle eastern restaurants I’ve been to usually have some type of curry stew with roasted cauliflower, but rarely do two restaurants make it the same. I’ve had it with carrots and peas, even brussel sprouts. I think it’s one of those things the restaurants make to use up left over product.
There are some cauliflower recipes here. May not be what you are looking for but many sound good. And I don’t even really like cauiflower all that much.
I would ask the owner about the ingredients. They’d probably appreciate your enthusiam and interest. While they may not give you the recipe they might give you some better clues to what’s in there. Or the name of it to search better.
So in discussing the ingredients with my husband, we’ve both come to an agreement that the sauce is probably yogurt-based, which would explain the bit of tang and the mouthfeel of the sauce. It’s a bit oilier than just plain yogurt-based, though–I think there may have also been some ghee.
From the limited description, it sounds like a middle Eastern version of aloo gobi, which isn’t entirely out of the question as there is some borrowing, migration, and similarities between Indian/Pakistani and Middle Eastern cuisines. I have determined that generically within Lebanese or Middle Eastern cuisine, this kind of “stew” is generally called a “Yakhnit” and specifically a Cauliflower Stew is an “Arnabeet (cauliflower)” or “Quarnabeet Yakhnit”. This google book link has a recipe for Quarnabeet Yakhnit, however the page that the recipe is on is not included in the review… just our luck, eh?
Here is a recipe for a Lebanese Vegetable Yakhnit that could give you an idea and a spice base to work off. But personally, I’m of the opinion that it might be an adopted or osmotic version of aloo gobi.
Another possibility is that the “yogurt” could be the classic middle eastern/mediterranean combination of tahini and lemon, deciding from your description of “tastes very rich/fattening” and oily.
Ok, a little more google tunneling and I discovered this recipe for Arabian Cauliflower with Tahini. I also discovered this picture of Lebanese Batata B’tahini (Potatoes with Tahini) which is described as… Sautéed cauliflower, potato, and garlic in a tahini sauce, served with rice. So, in this instance the classical dish takes its name from the potatoes, not the cauliflower.
I’d ask the restaurant owner how he makes his, because it is a very simple recipe and even though these are some recipes to build on, it might not exactly match his version.
Sorry for the OT, but I just wanted to say that only here at the SDMB would I mistake this thread title for “Help me find a recipe for this Middle Earth cauliflower stew!”
And even more amusing to me is that here at the SDMB, the above would totally be a popular thread!
Here’s what I would do if I were trying to recreate the recipe.
1 Head of Cauliflower cut into florets
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 small onion thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Olive oil to fry
1 cup tahini
1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flavorful stock or broth
1 teaspoon salt and pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
Parsley, finely chopped for garnish
Add the cut Cauliflower and Potatoes to a large pot of boiling water, par boil for around 7 minutes. Meantime, start a few tablespoons of Olive Oil warming in a large pan or solid dutch oven, and sautee the onions and garlic on low heat till lightly brown and caramelized. Drain the potatoes, and cauliflower thouroughly and add to the oil and aromatics, turn the heat up a bit and develop some dark fried color on the cauliflower and potatoes. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and spices, bring to a simmer and let stew for a minimum of 1/2 hour… I’d go an hour at least.
Ah, hell you could probably even cut out the parboiling step…
That picture is pretty damn close to what I ate. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I’m trying the lamb version tonight for dinner, although I’m using beef because we just bought a grassfed quarter yesterday and I have a LOT of effing beef right now.
Well, the lamb recipe linked upthread that I tried tonight was good, but it wasn’t what I ate last night. It was a lot more tart, and I could definitely make out the tahini. I couldn’t in the stew.
The picture in your second post, however, was pretty much what I had, so I definitely want to keep trying in that vein.
The most common Tahini Sauce within Lebanese cuisine which is used as a sort of all purpose base is called Tarator Sauce, which at its most basic is equal parts lemon and tahini. I would also point out that in that picture, the red spice sprinkled over the dish is Sumac, which can also give a bit of that yogurt quality of taste in combination with lemon. Perhaps it is as simple as tarator with yogurt?
Just to clarify, was the dish that you ate truly a warm “stew”. Or was it more like individual components prepared seperately and then combined or warmed through, or was it even even cold/room temp? You didn’t really specify temperature, although stew implies that it was hot…