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Whole head of cauliflower on a plate
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Whole Roasted Cauliflower Shawarma

Easy to make, Incredibly delicious and visually impressive vegan friendly cauliflower recipe for your next Sunday roast or dinner party.

Preparation time

15 min.

Cooking time

45 min.

Serves

4

Spice used

HAWAIJ

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 1 cauliflower, whole
  • 40 g unsalted butter, room temperature (can be vegan butter)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced 
  • 1 ½ tsp HAWAIJ spice blend by Camelēr Spice Co.

 

The sauce

  • 400 ml chicken stock (use vegetable stock for a vegan alternative)
  • 100 ml coconut milk 
  • 40g unsalted butter (use vegan butter for a vegan alternative) 
  • 2 tbsp flour 
  • 1 ½ tsp HAWAIJ spice blend by Camelēr Spice Co.
  • 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

 

Garnish

  • 2 banana shallots, or one onion, thinly sliced
  • 150 ml neutral oil for frying (vegetable or sunflower) 
  • 10g pomegranate seeds 
  • 10g pine nuts, toasted 
  • 1 ½ TBSP fresh coriander, roughly chopped 
  • ½ tsp of freshly mint, roughly chopped 

 

To serve

  • Flat Breads
  • Natural yogurt (cocoanut yogurt is a vegan alternative) (optional)

Method 

  1. Preheat the oven to 220℃ or 180℃ fan or Gas mark 7.
  2. Preheat a saucepan on medium high with the oil.
  3. Slice the shallots into half-moon slices to fry the shallots/onion and with a pinch of salt, fry in oil until golden brown and crispy, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
  4. In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts for a few minutes until golden brown. Remove and set aside. This along with crispy fried onions will be used as the garnish for the dish later.
  5. Prepare the whole cauliflower, by washing it and drying off excess water. If the cauliflower has little black bits, just slice that off and  trim or remove the stalks as desired. However, we like to keep them, as the stalks are full of flavour once roasted.
  6. Fill a saucepan with water one inch from the base or quarter fill. On medium to high heat bring the water to a rolling boil and place the cauliflower in the steaming basket, cover and steam for 15 min, once done set aside. If you don't have a steaming basket, you can try this hack. Make 3 little golf balls out of tin or aluminium foil and rest the cauliflower on top of the balls and cook as above. **Please note that you don't want the steam to escape too much, so you do want to have the lid on as tight as possible.
  7. Meanwhile melt the butter in an oven proof saucepan or a cast iron casserole dish, add 1 garlic clove minced (optional) and the flour and 1½ tsp of the HAWAIJ spice blend, and cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat. You are effectively cooking out the flour at this stage.
  8. Next, once the roux becomes fragrant, gradually add the stock and coconut milk to form a thickened sauce. This will take about a minute to thicken. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary with salt, then set aside.
  9. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the garlic cloves, 1½ tsp of the HAWAIJ spice blend, salt and butter, mix into a paste and set aside for brushing onto the cauliflower.
  10. Once the cauliflower is steamed, place into a baking dish and brush on the HAWAIJ flavoured butter mixture.
  11. Pour the HAWAIJ coconut sauce around the cauliflower and place uncovered in the oven and bake. After 15 min, baste the cauliflower with sauce using a spoon or spatula and return to the oven to cook for another 15 min.
  12. Serve the cauliflower direct from the baking dish, dress with the crispy shallots/onions, pomegranate seeds, fresh coriander and mint, toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil and sides of flat bread and yogurt. 

 

Photography by Cristian Barnett Food Styling by Kate May